An Unlikely Heroine
by ynmidk
Summary: People talk about immersive gameplay but dying and then waking up in the Mass Effect universe in a non-human body does take it just a little bit too far. / Self-Insert/ Rated MA/ Female OC/ Warnings in AN/ Pairings still to be determined
1. Prologue

**AN:** Okay, first I have a message for the readers of my HP stories, in case they take a peak here: I am really sorry guys! I promise, I will update the other stories, I already started the third chapter to Together in Darkness, but you know how it is. You just mind your own business, look for something to read, don't find it and bam!, suddenly your brain starts spinning this tale and you just need to get it out. Kind of what happened here.

Now, dear Mass Effect community, how you guys doin'? This is a sort-of, kind-of self-insert story of a type I have never seen and always wanted to read.

What you do need to know is that this is a prologue chapter and the actual storyline will start between the end of ME1 and the beginning of ME2.

So, enough talk from me. I hope you find this at least mildly entertaining. Please leave a review. Constructive criticism is always a welcomed sight.

 **Warnings:** _adult language, graphic depictions of violence, graphic depictions of sexual situations_

* * *

When I finished the first Mass Effect game for the first time- on a crappy laptop, with a lot of framedrops even at the lowest settings- I knew that I played something special. I loved almost every single character (the dislike was directed at the obvious culprits like the council members, Udina...and then there was the odd one in Liara. Yes, Liara. Sue me.). But I absolutely fell in love with the Turians. When I saw the first one, Nihlus, I wanted to kiss the person responsible for designing them. What kind of girl wouldn't fall in love with those metal plated birds and their face pantings and their flanging voices?

Of course I died when you could romance Garrus in Mass Effect 2 and I died even more when Nyreen Kandros was introduced in the Omega DLC for Mass Effect 3 and then I was ready to kill when you couldn't save her.

And now here I was, in my cozy room, while Judgement Day seemed upon us if that shitty weather outside was any indication. I started up the first and most charming Mass Effect yet again, ready to fall in love with it all over again despite its bugs, horrid controls and mediocre graphics.

I'm sure you guys were just like me when it came to character creation, spending like 200 hours there just to create a face identical to the ones you created 20 times before already. After what felt like ages, I was finally satisfied with how my Shepard turned out. Just as I was ready to exit character creation and start the campaign our electricity suddenly was gone, effectively shutting down my console and TV.

"No!" I almost wailed. All that effort for naught!

Frustrated and annoyed, I left my room to check several other switches and stuff and realized that a fuse must have blown due to the thunderstorm raging outside, so I went down into our basement to check our electrical panel. Looking for the circuit breaker needed, I quickly found it and as I wanted to switch it back to it's 'on' position I felt a charge at my fingertips but it was too late. The last thing my brain registered was me thinking "shit" as the strong and violent electric charge hit me like a truck. Then, everything went black.

* * *

My eyes opened slowly, the invading and bright light causing them to blink several times as I tried to get used to it. I groaned as I tried to sit up but immidiately felt lightheaded. My breathing was shallow and my heart was beating rapidly as my body protested against everything I did. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew that _something_ was different, but I felt too weak to truly register, let alone check out, whatever it was that's different. First my head needed to stop hurting and the world needed to stop spinning like crazy.

As the seconds and minutes ticked by, I tried to calm down and tried to take deep and steady breaths. Slowly, my body started to calm down and my mind started to clear a bit, causing me to wonder how in the world I was still alive. Last thing I remembered was being hit by an electric charge from that blasted panel that threw me across the basement. I couldn't possibly have survived that.

Slowly opening my eyes again and blinking several times, I stared at the sky above me. Its red hue seemed eerily familiar. I sat up slowly and pulled my legs up, resting my knees against my chest and my head on the palm of my hands when I realized something. My skin colour wasn't pale anymore. My skin didn't look like human skin, period. I looked down at my legs and feet and my eyes widened in shock and when I looked at my hands a shocked screech escaped my throat which freaked me out even more because it had a flanging quality to it.

My skin was beige coloured and its quality was rougher and thicker than what I remembered, almost leathery. And I used to take so much care to keep my skin soft and smooth!

There were exoskeleton platings on my chest instead of my boobs and on several other locations of my body too. My hands had three fingers with vicious looking talons and my feet had two toes with equally vicious looking talons and a short leg spur on my calf. My breathing again was really shallow, making my panic obvious. I looked around and saw a lot of hills and rocky formations but also smoke rising into the sky and a few dead people lying around. I got shakily on my feet and was surprised that I could walk easily in this obviously new body. Taking a few steps, I saw a small puddle and hoped it would be enough to see my face. My suspicions about what was going on were strong and clear, but still. As I arrived at the puddle I knelt down and stared into the eyes of a young female turian. I knew this was real because I felt every ache in my body, because I felt dizzy when I woke up, because I could smell the death around here. And still, I pinched myself hard with my talons, yelping at the pain and drawing blood. Blue blood. My blood was freaking blue and I could feel its wetness as it ran down my arm.

It was freaky and unexplainable, but yes, I died and instead of in heaven or hell I landed in the freaking Mass Effect universe and woke up as a freaking Turian.

I kept staring at my face. The facial plating had a slightly brighter coloring than my beige skin and my eyes were a dark green with vertical, slitted pupils. I didn't have that fancy fringe the male turians have. Kind of obvious, considering that I was female. Instead of the fringe I did have those prolonged cheek platings. Something missing were facial markings.

 _Great_ , I thought. _Whatever deity decided to put me here as a Turian could have at least not made me barefaced._

Wondering where ' _here_ ' was, I took another quick look of my surroundings. Red-ish sky, lots of smoke rising, a few trees here and there, rocks and cliffsides...and gas bags.

So it was Eden Prime, the human colony. The smoke and the dead could only mean that the Geth attack was either in full swing or that it just ended. From this position I couldn't see if Sovereign/Nazara was still here. I was about to get uo when I felt the end of a rifle against the back of my head. My breath caught in my throat as I turned around slowly.

"Your hands." The owner of the gun said and I could immediately tell that he was a Turian. What was weird was that I didn't even know because of the flanging voice but because of the language. Hearing it triggered something; like a hidden knowledge of the Turian language. Or something programmed into my head as I died and was put here. Who knows.

"Yes. Sorry." I answered, my mandibles twitching at really hearing my own voice for the first time in this body and also at hearing me speaking in chirps and clicks. It was so odd. I couldn't even tell if I was thinking in Turian or English.

I also knew that there could only be two Turians on Eden Prime (aside from me) and since I would recognize Saren's voice immidiately this one could only be Nihlus.

Lucky me.

So, kneeling, I held my hands up and turned around slowly and there he was in the flesh. My favourite Turian Spectre, Nihlus Kryik, with his gorgeous white markings and piercing, bright green eyes- such a contrast to his generally dark complexion, his skin and platings a dark red-brown.

 _Hey there, handsome._ I thought to myself before I shook my head mentally, wanting to slap myself for thinking inappropriate things in a situation like this. Yet I couldn't help myself. I looked him up and down and checked out his impressive fringe. I almost _felt_ the need to check it out. It was pure instinct. Was my whole being changed to fit the Turian thing, aside from my personality and knowledge of everything before my death?

"Who are you?" Nihlus asked me, his eyes fixated on me.

"I…" Was all I could get out. I stuttered and wrecked my brain but try as I might, my name just wouldn't come to me. I freaked out on the inside, despite realizing that a human name on a Turian female would seem odd. What could I remember, what was new about me, what remained? "I don't know…" I finally whispered, feeling my mandibles drop a bit. _My mandibles._ This was just crazy.

"Do you remember how you got here?" He continued his questioning.

"No." I answered. "I just...remember waking up. I don't know how I got here." _Technically_ I wasn't lying about that either.

Regarding me a few more seconds with his assault rifle aimed at me, Nihlus finally nodded. He tapped on his omni tool a few times before speaking up. "Normandy, this is Nihlus. I have found a female Turian with severe amnesia. Send a shuttle for pick-up ASAP." Glancing at me briefly, he added: "Bring something to cover her up."

Since I couldn't blush anymore, my mandibles flared widely instead. Just fits this whole situation that I was so freaked at my current situation that I didn't even mentally process me being butt naked the whole time. But well, covering up was useless now anyways. Nihlus got his eyeful of my naked waist and whatever else Turian males found attractive in their females.

I could hear Joker's voice, recognized it immidiately, but not a single word made sense to me. I couldn't understand English. It was safe to assume at this point, that I was thinking in Turian. "I...don't have a translator."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Our pilot said that a shuttle will be here in about six minutes. I will wait here with you until it arrives."

"You don't have to." I hastily replied. I knew what they were here for of course and they couldn't waste time on me right now.

"It's okay. I wanted to scout ahead but I might as well rendevouz with the rest of the team here." Nihlus again busied himself on his omni-tool as he absendmindetly explained his decision. "Shepard, I found a Turian civilian with amnesia. She has no idea who she is and how she got here. I already asked for a shuttle and it should be here by the time you reach our nav-point." Shepard gave a one-worded answer and with that Nihlus turned his attention back to me. "You are barefaced. Do you have any idea why? Was your marking removed? Did you never get one?"

"I don't know. I do know though that being barefaced is not a good thing."

"No...it isn't." Nihlus confirmed. "But you can earn your marking. We Turians are a tough bunch on our enemies, but we are even worse on our own. But still, you can earn your spot. You will have to work harder than ever before, but being barefaced does never have to be permanent...if you are not directly responsible of course."

"Thank you." I replied before looking behind me as I heard the shuttle approach. Realizing something I quickly turned back towards Nihlus. "I saw another Turian." I quickly lied, hoping that this idea would keep Nihlus alive.

"You did?" His sharp gaze pierced me again.

"Yes. He was armed and...he looked weird. More silver than grey. He had something too metallic about him. And he had a synthetic arm. And those robot things killing the humans seemed to follow him." I feared knowing about the Geth by name would be too suspicious, as it would be with Saren.

"You mean the Geth? The Geth are following a Turian?" The implications seemed to trouble him deeply, which was understandable. I wondered if he understood that I described Saren to him but I didn't think so, not believing that Saren looked so unnatural when Nihlus saw him the last time.

My mandibles twitching nervously, I nodded. I turned towards the human soldiers, who looked at me shyly as they handed me a long and dark quilt so I could cover myself up, just as the female and redheaded default Shepard, along with Kaiden and Ashley, arrived, all three of them eyeing me curiously.

Taking another look at Nihlus, I spoke to him again. "What's your name?" Of course I knew already, but he didn't know that I did.

"Never introduced myself, did I?" He chuckled lowly. "Nihlus Kryik. Spectre."

I nodded and gave him the Turian equivalent of a smile. "Be careful, Nihlus. And thank you."

He gave me a nod with a mandible twitch before he went back on his way with Shepard- who smirked at him- and the rest of the team.

* * *

The shuttle ride to the Normandy was one of the most uncomfortable things I had ever experienced and I am not talking about the smoothness of the ride and such. What was uncomfortable was the stares I received from the two marines sitting across from me and the awkward silence following my telling them that I didn't have a translator after their tries of talking with me ended with me staring at them blankly.

It was so weird how a language I spoke for my whole life suddenly was just...gone. It felt like I was...reborn...or reincarnared into a new body or species and changed enough to fit into this but enough of _me_ remained in my head that it didn't change _me_ too much. If that made sense.

Still, how was it possible to be reincarnated into a video game? I mean, I don't mind this situation too much. Turians are freaking cool and if Nyreen was anything to go by in Mass Effect 3, the females look gorgeous. If I may say so myself, from what I could make out in that puddle, I did look like one sweet, female Turian ass. But this was still so unreal. It felt like a joke. But it wasn't. This was real, the Reapers were coming, I was a barefaced Turian, I didn't understand human languages anymore, I spoke and understood the Turian language, I was naked under a quilt in a shuttle with two marines of the Normandy en route to the Normandy in space.

 _Fuck_.

* * *

It wasn't too long until we reached the Normandy. In real life, right in front of my eyes, she looked even more beautiful than in the games. The engineering and storage deck, where the Mako was stored in the game, opened and the pilot took us in, landing smoothly next the Mako.

 _That horror vehicle_.

I was led out by the marines and greeted by Pressly. Anderson was probably busy following the mission. Understandable. The marines were talking shortly with the navigator, probably explaining how I didn't get a word of what they were saying, and then I was led to the elevator and up to the crew deck and med bay. I looked at the marines in horror. They were going to let me walk in nothing but that quilt through the crew deck? I looked down in embarassment as we finally reached it and stepped out of the elevator before walking into the med bay. There I was greeted by Dr. Chakwas. I looked around and, as was the same in the engineering deck, everything seemed bigger. But it made sense. If all of this would have been the same size layout as in the game it would have been highly impractical to say the least.

After getting an explanation from the marines I was finally left alone with the Doctor, who led me towards a bed and made me sit. Rummaging through some shelves, she finally turned towards me with a small chip, probably a translator implant, and placed it in some device. When she went behind me and turned me so that she could easily reach my neck, I felt her cut the leathery skin of my neck, but it wasn't painful. She then placed the device with the implant at the cut and I felt something being placed underneath my skin. A few short seconds late it was done as the device healed my skin as soon as the implant was safely placed.

Dr. Chakwas then stepped in front of me and looked at me with a smile. "Hello, dear. I hope you can understand me now?"

I gave a short nod. "Yes, I actually do." _Damn, those translators work fast!_

"Good. I am Karin Chakwas, the Doctor here on the Normandy. From what I gathered, you suffer from severe amnesia and have no idea who you are and how you woke up, _naked_ , on Eden Prime."

"Yes." I nodded again. Technically, all of that was true. I had no idea how I got into the Mass Effect universe and I had no idea what in the world my name was, even though my human name would do me little to no good right now.

"Well, there is little I can do about your memory. I can't just make you remember things." She frowned. "Do you remember anything about your markings?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Let me do a quick scan. Maybe there are still particles of the colour. If not then you probably never got your markings or they were removed a very long time ago."

I didn't really expect anything, really, but I was in for a huge surprise.

"There actually is still some residue of the colour used...must have been removed in your early teens…"

So, I _have_ had colony markings. This was really getting weird. Was I just given the body of some poor Turian woman? Was I a body hijacker now? _What was going on_?

"Do you know your age?" Chakwas suddenly asked me, startling me out of my thoughts.

Thinking for a moment, I sighed, shaking my head. "No...no, I don't."

The elderly doctor just smiled at me kindly. "No worries, we will have that determined in just a moment." She then gave my body a full scan, going quickly over any data she received, nodding some and frowning some. After a few minutes she looked at me with a sympathetic smile, which I really didn't like. "The readings of the growth of your platings determine your age to be around nineteen years, giver or take a year. From what I gathered you have several healed fractures and other internal wounds. Externally there isn't much to see, but you most likely had a lot of bruises at some point."

"That doesn't really sound nice." I didn't know what else to say. So this body was badly abused at some point and...left to die?

"No, it doesn't." Chakwas sighed.

"What about my memories?"

"They probably will come back at some point. It is most likely that your mind shut down and blocked off traumatic events to protect itself. Whatever happened to you has made your mind block the memory. It is a natural defense mechanism that we all have, no matter the species."

That made sense. "And my name?" I needed one after all.

"Rest for now. You need to sleep. You can think of a name to use after everything else has sunk in. But first, let me get something for you to wear." She rummaged through another drawer and picked out undergarments and casual Turian clothing before handing them to me. "Can't have you running around like this the whole time."

I thanked her before changing into the clothing. I then went to lay down on the bed and turned onto my side, away from Dr. Chakwas. Human beds really were uncomfortable for a Turian.

My thoughts running rampant made it hard to relax. There was so much going on in my head. Why was I in this body? Why did a game suddenly become real life? Who was I...she...this body? What happened to me before I woke up? What happened to my human body?

At some point though I couldn't help but close my eyes, feeling mentally drained. Slowly, I drifted off into a restless sleep.

* * *

I woke up slowly with a groan. 'Rested' was not how I would describe myself right now. It was weird. I didn't really have a dream. After falling asleep I just woke up, but I felt drained in a way and had a headache, caused by a name that kept replaying itself over and over in my head. Maybe it was my Turian name? It would make sense for me to remember it after a little time, considering that it probably wasn't something associated with the abuse I apparantly suffered from.

I got up but was hit by another dizzy spell, just like when I woke up in Eden Prime. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Dr. Chakwas standing next to me with a needle. My mandibles tightened against my jaw in a frown.

"I will have to inject some vitamins directly into your bloodstream. Part of you feeling dizzy is because you lack proper nutrition. When we arrive at the Citadel you should really go and see a doctor there though. I recommend Dr. Michel. I will forward all of your data to her, if that's alright?"

Nodding, I let her inject that vitamin cocktail or whatever it was before getting up. I was then handed a bag with Turian toiletries from the doctor, who allowed me to use her bathroom. Having a Turian Spectre on board really paid out for me, it seems. But maybe they had all those things at the ready because the Normandy was a collaboration between Humans and Turians.

In the end it didn't really matter much. The important thing was that I could shower, brush my really sharp teeth and polish my platings. It was all in my instincts. Again, I was granted with the knowledge of how to be Turian without having to try- as if it had been always there.

I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling like a completely new Turian.

While showering, standing under that relaxing and warm water, I thought about my situation. I thought about what to do and how to deal with everything but came up with nothing. I mean, what could I do, really? The Reapers would soon appear and none of this would matter. I knew that I would need to help the Shepard's team but I literally had zero combat experience. I would just be a tag-along with nothing to offer. So, what was needed was someone willing to train me. I was motivated and I was willing. It was obvious that I couldn't change me being a Turian or me being in the Mass Effect universe, so I might as well just accept it and make the most of it.

And there was also the matter of that name in my head.

I looked around in the doctor's office, but she was nowhere to be seen. So I stepped out and saw her right at the entrance to her office. "Excuse me. Doctor."

She looked up from her daralad with a kind smile. "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked immidiately.

"Definitely better after that shower. Thank you." My mandibles twitched nervously. "Listen...I, uh, I think I remember my name." I said in a low voice.

Chakwas now had her full attention on me. "You do?"

"I think so. It came to me during my sleep and now it's stuck in my head."

"Things like that tend to happen. After the initial shock disappears and the body can start to relax, base memories like names can resurface." The doctor explained. "So, care to tell me your name?"

"Yes. Sorry. It's Tulana. Tulana Vitridonis."

"Very well. Welcome on the Normandy, Tulana." She typed something on her Datapad before looking up at me. "You should probably speak to Captain Anderson and Commander Shepard." She said. "They should be in the command deck. Just take these stairs." She pointed me the way, though it wasn't necessary. I knew my way around this ship. Still, I couldn't mention this of course, so I thanked the kind doctor and made my way up to the command deck. I looked around and saw Shepard, Nihlus and Anderson discussing something. I stood a few feet away from them, kind of awkwardly in the way of everybody, not sure if I should walk up to them or not.

A light tap on my shoulder made me jump. "Spirits!" I put a taloned hand on my chest, trying to slow down my heart. Wait. _Spirits_? Where did that come from?

"Whoa, sorry about that."

I turned around and glared at the culprit, who happened to be Kaidan Alenko. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"

He had both his hands raised apologetically. "As I said, sorry. Actually, I wanted to ask how you are holding up. I heard that you lost your memory or something."

"Most of it anyways." I chuckled. Man, I really needed to get some answers on this Turian me! "But I have a name now, so there's that."

"Better than nothing." I heard a woman's voice answer in Kaidan's stead. I turned around yet again, this time to be approached by the trio I initially wanted to see. "Commander Jane Shepard." She held a hand out to me. This was so freaky. My hero, the one I spent so many hours controlling during the craziest adventures, was standing right in front of me and held a hand out to me.

"Tulana Vitridonis." I shook her hand. It looked so small in mine. "I...thank you for allowing me to stay on your ship."

Shepard laughed at that. "This beauty is not mine. Anderson here is captaining her."

"Of course. Sorry." I didn't know what else to say. This whole thing was kind of overwhelming.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Miss Vitridonis." Anderson, always the polite and professional one, spoke up for the first time. "We all are just glad that you made it out of there in one piece. But I must ask: you really have no idea how you got to Eden Prime?"

"I'm sorry." My mandibles drooped a bit. "If I did I would have told you."

"Of course. I imagine you must be more curious than we are."

"I promise I'll let you know as soon as I get more memories back that could be of importance to you." I then looked at Nihlus. "Could I talk to you in private?" I asked the Turian who gave me a curious glance but then nodded.

"If you would excuse us. Captain, Commander, Lieutanent." He then went to the communications room with me in tow.

Once we arrived he looked at me expectantly. Made sense, since I asked him for a private chat.

"Did you ever know someone or hear of someone whose last name was Vitridonis?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I didn't have much opportunity in my youth and during boot camp to get to know people, even less so since the beginning of my Spectre training."

I frowned. One opportunity to know more about my Turian me was gone.

"I'll make sure to keep my eyes open, in case anything comes up but you will understand why I can't make this a priority." He almost sounded apologetic.

"It's okay. So...how'd your mission go?"

"It's classified."

"Oh come on! You can trust me."

"Doesn't matter." He started to sound impatient.

"But I'm a witness."

"With amnesia. Nothing you would have to say would be of any use to us." He sighed. "Look, if you have nothing else to say, I still have a lot to do."

"I want you to train me." I finally blurted out. "I have nowhere to go, nothing to do, no credits, no memories of anything. I wouldn't survive a day out there. If you could help me take care of myself…" I almost begged him. I was really desperate here.

"Look, you have to understand that I simply do not have the time to train a civilian. There are others out there who have it just as rough as you and they manage. You will too. Now if you'll excuse me." And with that he left. Just like that. He basically cut me off, threw me off the ship. Could he do that? He was a Spectre. But what was I thinking anyways, asking him like that? I had no skills, no arguments at all for him to even think about agreeing. And now I was alone.

I was screwed.

* * *

I stepped out with the rest of the crew and didn't know where to go. Shepard and the crew apparantly saw their duty as finished, having safely dropped off the random civilian on the Citadel. They obviously couldn't stick around and wait until I 'regained my memory'.

Without any money, without having any training that could be of use here and with me being barefaced, well…

So I just did the first thing that came to mind and that was walking. I walked without knowing where to go. I was scared shitless and wrecked my mind to come up with any plan but nothing came to mind. I sat down on a bench, not really looking where I was.

This was an absolute nightmare. Maybe I could somehow smuggle my way to Omega. But what would I do there? It wouldn't probably even take half a day there for me to get raped or something.

No, I needed to relax. I needed to clear my mind, take deep breaths and think. I could do this. I _had_ to do this!

After taking several calming breaths, I finally calmed down. So, first things first. What is the most important thing someone can own in the Mass Effect universe? The omnitool! I need it to gather information via the extranet, pay for stuff, communications.

So, how do I get one? Shoplifting!

Now that being decided, I got up and looked for a way to get to the Zakera Ward. After I finally found a shuttle I could use, I picked my desired location and was transported there automatically, not needing to control the shuttle at all.

Once I arrived, I got out and tried to be as inconspicious as possible but my bare face made it a little bit more challenging. I finally reached a shop that sold omnitools. The Turian shop owner was distracted by a Human, so I quickly slipped in. I browsed for a bit, picking up a box, reading the Turian description of the divice and acting as if I was contemplating about a purchase. I was in a far corner of the store and tried to scan for security cams but it was really hard to do, considering I didn't even know what to look for exactly. What did they look like? Were they hidden? So I just positioned myself as inconspiciously as possible at the shelf, blocking my hands from view as I checked my left and right. The shop owner was nowhere in sight and I was alone for the moment. I looked around for a bit and realized that there were different packages for different species. Weird. Looking around a bit more I found one for Turians and made sure that I was still left to my own devices. I then scratched the back of the box open with a sharp talon and removed its contents. Huh. Gloves. Not how I imagined what omnitools would actually look like but that would explain why everyone was wearing gloves throughout the series.

I put the box back in the shelf, but a couple rows farther in the back, and stuffed the gloves under the waistline of my pants. Good thing that they fit so snugly.

Trying to be as casual as possible, I strolled out of the store as the owner was still busy discussing with a human why he couldn't return whatever he bought. I kept walking for a while and finally found a deserted bench, away from the busy noise. Taking out the gloves, I put them on and they fitted my hands nicely, the tips hardened so my talons wouldn't damage them. After I activated the tool hologram screen appeared, wanting me to create a user ID, complete with password and all. I was glad that email verifications seemed to be a thing of the past though. After all of that was finished I finally got to be able to explore the capabilities of an omni-tool, even though what I 'owned' wasn't military standard. I still could access the extranet though, which was what I really needed. The first thing I did was to look for 'my' parents. I needed to have a base understanding of my Turian background and what happened to me. Unfortunaly though there were way too many people with Vitridonis as their last names. But now thinking about it, I wasn't really sure if it would be a good thing to be found by my Turian parents. They would want to spend time with me and not let me out of their sights. Probably.

This was all way too complicated.

After deciding to ignore the parent thing for now, I did some idle research on Omega. Aria had to be Omega's leader by some time now, that obnoxious bitch. Never could stand her and her arrogance. Nyreen probably went underground already, if I had the timeline right. Other than that there wasn't really that much going on. I needed a way to get money and a way to build and hone some skills. Right now I was little to no use in this world.

My little shoplifting thing did work okay. Maybe I could do that. Steal a little here and there, maybe learn some hacking on the way. Best case scenario being that I could build the necessary skills and get in Shepard's crew by the time Garrus becomes Archangel. Worst case being that I get caught and get thrown off the Citadel and die. Considering the Reaper threat and all it wouldn't be much different from the normal outcome anyways, so no big deal.

My mandibales twitched as I leaned back against the bench in satisfaction.

I finally knew what I needed to do: Tulana Vitridonis was about to become a small-time criminal!

* * *

 **AN:** Just wanted to explain the glove-omnitool thing quickly. I did a shit ton of research about what omnitools actually looked like and how they worked and what made the most sense was actually that glove thing. In the codex in one of the games it is apparantly described as something 'handheld' and people wear those gloves to be able to touch the holoscreens. So I thought it would make sense, considering how many people in the MEU wear gloves.


	2. Metso

**AN:** Hey there, dear ME community. It's been a while and I bet you guys thought that the first chapter was just a flash in the pan! Well, you were wrong. Here's the second. It is quite a lot shorter than the first chapter but it just seemed like the perfect place to end this chapter. Things will soon pick up for Tulana and, as a little bit of a teaser, I have quite the surprising familial relation for her in mind. It will be a shocker! (or so I hope). I also didn't have the time to clean up much of the chapter but I really wanted this up, so if there are any glaring mistakes please say so in reviews or PMs so I can clean it up at a later time. Enjoy the chapter!

Here a few answers and reactions to some reviews:

 **Guest-Questioner:** I hope to cover the entire trilogy plus DLCs too but that's going to be a mammoth project and there might be big periods without updates. I'll do my best to manage that of course, but obviously with university and everything I won't promise anything other than me doing my best to not disappoint.

 **Kaiya Azure:** She definitely will do her thing. She is a spitfire and not a particularly likeable person as you will find out pretty soon.

 **Spiritstrike:** I've read it and I wouldn't say I picked the better path, just a different one. I really really enjoyed what you have created so far for your OC and I do hope that, despite you having not updated in a long time, you will continue yours!

* * *

A week had passed since what I have started to call _the incident_. Considering that _the incident_ killed me in another universe, where I was human, and woke me up in a video game as an alien it was a fitting name, or so I thought.

Anyways, it was an interesting week. I went to see Dr. Michel since I still got the occasional dizzy spell and that kind woman actually offered me a full weeks dose of vitamin shots for free. I seriously had to wonder how this woman kept her business afloat. She was way too charitable.

She also sent me information on places where I could stay and eat for a while to my new omni-tool since I had no cash, no work and no home.

I went there and registered myself into their databank and was led to the Turian section of the building, where my people- well yeah, they are that now aren't they?- were gathered at various tables and eating and it was then I realized just _how hungry_ I was and whatever they were eating smelled _delicious._

The dark skinned human showed me around a bit and explained the idea and concept of helping people back onto their feet and whatnot but as much as I appreciated the sentiment I was too hungry to really listen any further so I thanked him and went over to get myself a plate and cutlery and loaded the plate with some sort of cooked lizard, that just smelled amazing, and some weird looking vegetables as a side dish.

I then looked around for a place to sit, but there wasn't really any room left, something that left me feeling lost real quick. And, if I was totally honest, the fact that I had yet to find another barefaced Turian in here made me timid. I could ask if this or that spot was free for me to sit and they could just brush me off, ignore me or outright insult me and the likeliness of someone jumping in to help me out and/or defend me was close to zero percent. It was an intimidating situation but, thankfully, a male Turian, grey skinned with black markings covering his mandibles and meeting at the bridge of his nose, waved me over and offered me a seat across from him.

"Thank you." My mandibles flared slightly in gratitude as I took the seat.

He waved it off, though, before taking a healthy bite of the cooked lizard, which he had spared on the Turian fork thing, the crunching of thin bones very audible as he was chewing, something that prompted me to impale my lizard.

I didn't even hesitate as I bit its head off- I mean this thing was cooked whole and I'm sure I would have puked all over the place if I was still human- and couldn't help that purring sound rumbling in my chest at the bloody taste in my mouth. Probably came with being a predator race.

The male chuckled softly and I was slightly embarrassed. "Sorry. I haven't eaten in ages and, well…"

"Don't worry. The name's Metso Eudonis."

"Tulana Vitridonis. No offense, but why do you even bother talking to me? I mean, with me being barefaced and all…"

"That is actually exactly the reason I am talking to you."

I swallowed another bite, slurping in a dangling foot as I looked him questioningly. "Huh?"

"I was bare faced myself. I don't even have to be here. I earn a lot of money; probably more than anyone in her could hope to make in a lifetime…if they had a job."

My mandibles tight at my jaw, I chewed the tail of my food before popping one of those purple round vegetable things in my mouth. "Then what are you doing here?" I finally asked.

"Recruiting."

"For what?" I continued my questioning before popping another of the vegetables in my mouth, enjoying the sweet taste as it balanced out the taste of cooked blood and guts from the lizard still lingering on my tongue.

"My organization." He began. "We aren't good people. We make our money with theft and murder, among other things. For me, barefaces- like you- are the most obvious first choice."

Well, at least he was being honest, I suppose. It would be a good opportunity for me to make some money and start a life in this universe, but there was a slight problem. "I don't have any skills that could be of use to you. I basically just woke up without any memories."

"Your personal life is of no matter to us. As for your skillsets…there's almost nothing that can't be taught."

Well, if he put it that way…

"When can I start?" I asked before popping another of those sweet, round, purple veggies in my mouth, my mandibles flaring in a Turian grin as Metso leaned back in his chair in satisfaction after a successful recruitement.

* * *

The fact that a complete stranger, who claimed to suffer from a loss of memories, had agreed to join his crime syndicate just like that did not seem to faze Metso in the slightest; something that worked perfectly fine for me.

My stomach full and the start for my new life in this universe finally established, I actually felt pretty good for the first time since I woke up. The fact that I would soon start my training as a thieving assassin or a murdering thief was something I oddly found more exciting than off-putting. Maybe it was because I didn't really feel any moral responsibility in this world as I did when I was still human.

Here, in this world, it was just me and I had a mission; a goal to achieve. I didn't have people close to me who would be touched by my actions. Yes, I would lie if it got me what I wanted. Yes, I did sleep around and broke hearts in the process. Yes, I did manipulate people weaker than me to do things for me. I was not what most would consider a good person. I actually was a huge bitch in my human life, but I was content with it because I was selfish enough to not care about people I hurt and used for as long as they were not my closest friends and/or family. Anyone else was fair game to me.

Still, I never stole or physically hurt anyone, let alone murder people. I never had the urge to do so, either. I was no kleptomaniac and, while my family was never rich we were still well off enough that I had no urge or desire to steal things just to own something fancy.

I also never felt the urge to hurt people, neither physically nor emotionally. I mean yes, I actually _did_ hurt people emotionally. I cheated on boyfriends, I strung guys who had crushes on me along to get them to do things for me or just to have someone to pass the time with until someone who actually interested me came along, I insulted people in horrible ways, I blackmailed people, I started vile rumors just to get back for something minor…good times.

But I never hit people. I always felt bad and guilty when I so much as slapped someone. Talk about hypocritical.

And, well, I never even thought about murdering someone. I suppose I wasn't that much of a sociopath.

Yet here I was, recruited into some stealing and murdering Turian sect which also worked as a haven for the barefaces of the Hierarchy. I wondered if I could actually do that.

I knew I would need training and I would need to establish myself in this world and I needed to do so fast. I needed to be an up and coming newbie in this dark underworld of the Mass Effect universe so I would catch the Illusive Man's cybernetic eyes and, in doing so, also Shepard's.

To achieve that goal I would need to kill actual people. If I were to happen to become an assassin, which actually sort of sounded cool in a gameplay kind of sense, I would need to become a murderess. I would need to kill husbands and wives, boy- and girlfriends, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. I would need to widow and orphan people.

If I were to become a thief…well, that sounded cool too and would involve less bloodshed.

I didn't even know if I had a say in that matter.

"You are quiet." Metso finally spoke for the first time since we entered his skycar.

My mandibles twitched slightly as I let out a sigh. "Just…contemplating a few things." And I wasn't even lying. Upon first realizing where I was after having died and once I got that memory loss story established I knew I would need to help Shepard in her mission. What I didn't think through though was the fact that while killing Geth, Collectors and Reapers was no big deal but getting to the point to actually be able to do those things was another matter entirely. "How does this work anyways? Do I get to choose what I want to do or do I just do what you want me to do?" _So many 'dos'._

"The latter. If we want you to steal something you steal. If we want you to kill someone you kill someone."

Well, looks like looks like I get to add _murderess_ and _thief_ to my many charming qualities now. _Joy_.

But a gal's gotta do what she's gotta do, I suppose.

"How old are you anyways?" Metso asked, sort of out of the blue.

"Nineteen." _According to Dr. Chakwas_. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought I'd attempt to do a little bit of small talk to distract you from overthinking what you are getting yourself into." He gave me a roguish smirk at my surprised look and I had to admit that it did something to my body. I always had a thing for charming bad boys and he seemed to be just that. "It was obvious, Tulana. Staring outside, mandibles tight. I'd bet a thousand credits your mind was fixated on the murder-part of your job description."

"You can't exactly blame me, can you?"

"Never said I did." He was quiet for a few moments before he spoke again. "I am proud of my heritage. Being a Turian, our culture, our strength as a species. But we have flaws and the biggest is, that despite our efficiency being something we take pride in, our inefficiency."

"You are talking about barefaces, aren't you?"

"I am. Facial markings are an honor and something to take pride in, no doubt. To have them removed…it is a horrible thing. Most of the times the reasons are equivalent to the punishment, so no problems there." He paused for a few more moments, our drive continuing towards an industry area. "Our inefficiency as a species begins here. Once barefaced, you have almost no chance to atone for your crimes and become part of the society. I killed the drunk trash who was my father. He would beat my mother senseless and once she wasn't responsive enough and started to bore him he would turn to me. One day I found my mother dead. She killed herself. I even understood why she did it. She couldn't live with that man anymore. He pushed her to committing suicide, so I killed him in return."

I was quiet as he took another pause. What could I say, anyways?

"Even though I was within my rights to do what I did, it was enough to have my markings removed. Turians revere authority and parents are authority. For me to have him killed…well, I _still_ understood the reasoning.

But, and here comes the point to all of this, I had no chance to get back into our society. Once removed of my markings I was dead to even the lowest of the society. I was below the lowest. So I took matters into my own hands. I did what I had to do to survive. I stole, I killed, I sabotaged.

I made money. Everything got easier. I collected every bareface I found. Junkies, deserters, rapists- don't worry, I made sure they understood that rape is not something I take lightly." He soothed my worries, which were evident at the strangled sound I made. "Anyways...we made our own society with what we are given. When you want to enter somewhere but are denied access…you have to find another way in. That is what you have to do. No matter what you may or may not have been told- once you are barefaced you remain that way ninety-nine times out of a hundred."

"I've got to do what I've got to do, right?"

"Exactly. We are providing you with everything what would have been denied to you otherwise, all because you lack paint on your face. It's more likely that you would start selling your body three months from now for red sand than you finding a way to get accepted back into the Hierarchy."

"You really have a way with words." I laughed lightly, despite the gruesome picture he painted. "I'm sold. Show me how to kill people without being caught."

* * *

We arrived some time later at an empty factory where a shuttle was waiting for us. He landed the skycar next to the shuttle and led me towards it where another Turian, wearing his full armor set, was already waiting for him.

With a nod, the unidentified Turian entered the shuttle's cockpit while Metso and I entered in the back. Once ready to go, the shuttle started up and soon we left the Citadel.

"Where are we headed?" Metso gave me another of his smirks and I idly wondered what kind of birth control a Turian woman needed to take. Knocked-up me would do Shepard no good after all.

"Your new home."

I huffed at the non-answer and leaned back, arms crossed over my chest plates.

"It's a space station masked as an asteroid mine. We do mine the asteroid, effectively producing fuel for the station but it is fully automated. The station itself is mobile and once the asteroid is fully drained we can dislodge and find a new one."

"That sounds expensive."

"You'd be surprised what people pay just to get their hands on a certain piece of jewelry or to see someone dead."

"Fair enough." I mumbled. I glanced out and smiled at the pitch dark of space and the sprinkles of stars strewn across. It simply was a beautiful sight I couldn't appreciate on the Normandy but now, while I had the chance, I wanted to take in what could.

Metso seemed to have decided to give me some time before he spoke again. "Once we arrive at the Valteria you will get your markings. The color is your choice, the design will be not. Every one of us bears the same design."

My eyes widened and my mandibles flared in excitement. I was going to get my own markings already!

"But remember: once you are marked you are one of us. We are a family of the shunned, of the outcast. We have no place but at each other's sides-"

"I got it, Metso. I'm willing. I'm ready."

"Good." He nodded, relaxing into his seat. "And just for the record: the killing does get easier."

I made a noncommittal sound at that, not really sure how I was supposed to react. What do you say when someone tells you that killing people gets easier every time you do it?

Our conversation lulled a bit too and we fell into a comfortable silence, my gaze again fixed at the vast darkness and stars.

I wondered where this journey would ultimately take me. Knowing where I wanted to end up, namely Shepard's crew, was one thing but I felt like I already reached a point which would make the getting there a whole lot more complicated than I anticipated. I honestly didn't know what I was initially expecting but the turnout being what it was I suppose I could be glad that my expectations weren't met. In fact, they were surpassed. I now had a secure place to sleep, eat and build a skillset to help me survive the unforgiving Mass Effect universe. Distasteful things would be needed to be done but I needed to see this through.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. I hoped.

* * *

It took us twenty standard Palaven hours to reach the Station. The construct was really dubbed 'the Station' as it turned out.

When we arrived at the Valteria I was immediately ushered into a side room where an older Turian was already waiting for me, brush at hand and several vials with color at the ready.

My stomach flipped in excitement and immediately took stock at the colors offered before settling for a dark purple.

The process itself wasn't too exciting and there was little to no ceremony here. I had the distinct feeling of remembrance, like some sort of echo in the far recesses of my mind, that there usually was a lot of ceremony when a young Turian would get their markings but obviously there was no such thing for criminal syndicates. I'd have to survive that disappointed somehow but I was sure I would manage to do that.

After I got my marking- the color seeped right into the pores of my facial plating, making it able to survive the different weather conditions I would face for some years- there was not much more to do than rest and sleep so that was what I did until we reached the station.

Once the Valteria docked onto the Station we exited the ship and Metso led me to the sleeping quarters.

"This is where you will live for the time being." He told me as I let my gaze sweep through the hallway with doors left and right. He opened a door to the right and there was a lone bed with a nightstand right next to it. There was another door further in which assumedly led to a bathroom.

"Looks cozy enough." I commented idly. Entering the room I made my way to the wardrobe and opened it, checking if there were any clothes to wear and I was for whatever reason surprised that there weren't.

"Most of your days will be spent in training gear which you will acquire once you start your training." He then motioned for me to exit my new room and I followed him back out into the entrance hall before he led me into what turned out to be the gear room.

I was staring with wide eyes at all the rifles, pistols and armor and I was pretty sure that at least most of it was just for training purposes. I could imagine that fully trained and ready…mercenaries? I suppose that's what you could call these people. Guns for hire, mercs, sell-swords; anyways, I could imagine that those who were done with their training would get gear specified and optimized for their personal needs.

Metso confirmed my suspicions not too much later into my awed silence. "These weapons and armors are solely for training purposes. It's no use to give you trash to train with only to expect you to be able to handle at least medium quality items. But we don't crap money so we expect you to handle everything here with care and clean up everything you used before placing them back into their proper places. You share everything here with your peers."

"Understood."

Back outside in the large hall we kept walking further in stopped in front three doors. Pointing to the left, he spoke up. "This is where you will be briefed for eventual jobs you will get when you are ready." He then pointed to the right. "This is for recreation and downtime. Games, movies and whatever else you do when you find the time to relax." I nodded as he then opened the middle door. We entered and I was assaulted with grunts, the sounds of gunshots and bodies hitting mattresses and the smell of sweat and blood.

"I assume this is the training room?"

"You assume correctly."

We kept walking inside and I looked around, my gaze locked on a female Turian with a similar, just slightly darker complexion than mine and red markings identical to what Metso and I wore. I couldn't help but be intimidated at the proficiency she showed in hand-to-hand combat, nailing a male a lot larger and heavier than she was with ease to the mattress, forcing a pained grunt out of him as he knee landed heavily on his chest, effectively pinning him down.

"That would be Nitana Bolanius." Metso followed my eyes. "By far our best hand-to-hand fighter. Agile, quick on her feet and quick on her mind. You won't find a better thief. Never got caught and if anyone does see her they don't live long enough to even make a sound."

I wasn't sure just how easily Metso dished out praise but what he told me about this Nitana woman did certainly sound impressive. I hoped that she would find the time and patience to teach me a trick or two.

Soon enough we made our way further into the training hall, me drawing a curious glance or two on the way, which was to be expected. I was the new face here after all.

Once we reached the shooting range, my excitement grew even more. A few spots were occupied and I took a glance to see a male landing most of his shots in the head of his holo-target. Certainly impressive.

"I suggest you spend at least an hour here at the shooting range every day. Weapons are what will keep you alive out there."

I nodded, knowing that he was right. Even civilians needed weapons with all those slavers, pirates and gangs out there. Being at least a good shot was absolutely paramount.

The guys shooting didn't let themselves get distracted by our presence and again I was impressed; this time by the focus Metso's people were showing. The bar was certainly set high here and keeping up with them was not going to be an easy task it seemed.

Metso led me through yet another door, this one at the far end of the training room. I could hear showers running on the left side and a loud feminine moan echoed through the hallway we were in and I couldn't hold in my chuckle.

"The gym showers are communal I suppose?"

My tour guide sighed in annoyance. "No, it's just that not everyone seems to be able to differ between male and female symbols or they just don't care."

"You don't approve of a bit of relaxation between your 'employees'?" That would have been a bummer but my worries were for naught as his answer provided the relief I needed right there.

"I actually don't care who mates with whom as long as my females don't all end up pregnant. So make sure you are protected before you mate."

" _Your_ females?" I teased him and laughed at the irritated twitch of his mandibles. Well, technically he could say that. He sort of owned everyone here, or at least it felt like it. He gave the people here a purpose, as dark as it may be. They had a home here, they probably built friend- and relationships here. They had a place to come back to. Metso saved people from drugs and prostitution. Yes, they were murderers and thieves now, but it's not the 'give me your purse full of twenty credits or I will shoot you'- kind of crimes they were committing. It was high class. A single pull of a trigger made them filthy rich.

I was certain that any traitor would be hunted relentlessly by them.

As I was contemplating the situation of this syndicate we reached the end of the hallway behind the training room and entered what seemed to be the cafeteria. Lots of benches, food trays, the sound of cutlery and chatter giving it all away.

Nodding with his head towards the trays we both took one and had them loaded with some small, cooked and spikey rabbit-thing and some red paste with green things that looked like peas in it.

Taking our seats I acted on instinct, spearing the animal with the fork and bit a large chunk of its hind legs off. Humming in pleasure at the crunching of thin bones and the taste of cooked but still bloody flesh, I began chewing. In my human life I always was a dainty eater. Never used fingers if possible, always chewing with a closed mouth, never talking with a full mouth. I was all about manners at the dinner table.

But now, after waking up in the afterlife, which turned out to be the Mass Effect universe, in the body of an apex predator race it was impossible because the biology made it so.

Without lips and with that stiff mouth area we Turians had I simply could not close my mouth when chewing. The way we talked was entirely different to humans too. All those chirps, clicks and growls came from the throat and belly and rarely was the mouth itself used to form words.

And the way my taste buds worked is definitely different too, considering all that blood and guts from the food doesn't make me throw up but hum in pleasure. Turian food was definitely interesting, considering how the meat itself was only lightly cooked and served whole- at least when it came to small animals as I had yet to see what they… _we_ …made out of the Turian equivalent of cows- and the taste was appropriate to the way it was served: harsh, strong, coppery.

The side dishes balanced everything out though as they were really sweet; at least that's what I got out of it so far.

"So, what do you think?" Metso asked me after we enjoyed our food for a few minutes.

I was plucking out some spikes out of my rabbit thing- somewhere in the back of my mind the word _chaloxii_ repeated itself and I wondered if that's what my food was- before I answered. "I have to admit that I am excited," I began carefully, "and I don't believe that just a few assassinations and thefts made it possible to start this." I could see his mandibles tighten so I held up my hands quickly so he wouldn't blow up on me. "It's none of my business and I don't particularly care. You offered me a place to live, to start over and to learn how to survive. In return you have my services at your disposal." He relaxed visibly, which gave me the opening to the most important question I had about this whole thing. "Once I am done with my training…how much freedom do I have?"

"What do you mean?"

"Will my life consist only of job after job after job or do I get to do stuff outside of all this?" I asked, my spread arms indicating the entire Station.

"I will not force you to dedicate your entire life to us. If you want to do that yourself, then it is your choice. But I will demand you to take the odd jobs if I feel that you are best suited for them. They might come at bad times for you personally, they might come when you get bored and give you something to do. Your lifelong dedication to use consists of you not betraying us and help us should we need it, not in burning yourself out."

"Well, then this really is just what I needed." I grinned before taking another healthy bite and closing my eyes in bliss.


	3. The Beginning

**AN:** You guys are my motivation. Thanks so much for the positive reactions this story is receiving! Chapter three will conclude the prelude to ME2 since I really do not want to spend chapters upon chapters telling about this and that job. Of course there will be flashbacks about jobs that may be more important than others but ultimately Tulana will be ready for ME2 in the next chapter.

A little warning: there will be Turian sexy times in this chapter.

And, despite it maybe being a bit rushed, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

 **Ragna:** It will mainly be hetero pairings with Tulana but I might put her together with one or two female Turians just for the flavor at some later point.

 **DarkDust27:** Not sure about them being endgame but I can definitely see them testing out their reach and flexibility.

 **Spiritstrike:** Well, I do enjoy quality work. And yes, muses are really fickle things. I hope you'll find your motivation again and that my story can help you along the way. For me it always helps reading stories with similar premises to mine to get the creative juices flowing again.

* * *

I aimed at my target, my eye seeing through the scope and reading the various numbers indicating wind strength, the direction from which it blew and the estimated trajectory of the rifle's projectile that were sent into the visor which was synchronized with the rifle's interface.

I corrected my aim a bit and after halting my breath I pulled the trigger, the rifle immediately overheating as the holographic head fuzzed in and out before a red dot close to four others indicated my fifth consecutive headshot.

After a month in training and learning how to disassemble, clean and put back together every weapon in the first week- a Turian male named Tassus made me do that for four hours straight every day after I was done with my fitness training- I finally got to learn how to shoot. Surprisingly enough I found it easier with sniper rifles than with pistols, the two weapons I put my emphasis on. Of course Metso made me learn how to handle every weapon, so I was also learning how to use assault rifles and shotguns, but they were more like 'by the way' with an hour shared between both every day.

After my first week here I also asked Nitana if she would be willing to teach me hand-to-hand. Her first question was if I had any boot camp training and once I told her that I had no memories and just woke up confused in some human colony she actually agreed which really made me happy until I got my first taste of what a demanding teacher she was.

I constantly had bruises all over my body and she never held back. At times this really felt like ka-…

Yeah, there's that too. With every passing day I felt my humanity slipping away from me more and more. It was kind of sneaking up on me when at some point during a random train of thought that didn't really make any sense I just realized I couldn't come up with the name for an Earth animal. Even the way it looked was hard to remember. The Palaven fauna though came to me at the oddest times. At some point I just accepted the fact that Turian me overtook and replaced whatever remained of my human heritage, which was solely mental anyways. My personality remained untouched though, which was the one thing I really didn't want to lose about me. The rest of me becoming Turian in body and soul was okay, even if it was sort of bittersweet, but it made my life here easier without me having to give awkward explanations for accidental slip-ups.

I aimed again, the weather simulation, which I had started to use immediately once I got to train with guns, creating a strong gust of wind which came in irregular intervals. I waited patiently, following the holo-target while I had one eye on the weather readings the rifle's interface sent to my visor. I exhaled my breath, steadied the rifle and, the moment the wind stilled, pulled the trigger.

Sixth consecutive headshot.

My mandibles flared in a self-satisfied smirk. I was about to press the button for randomized weather situations again when I smelled another Turian close to me.

This really was something my brain never really registered in the beginning, probably because I was still so out of it mentally with this whole Turian thing but once I managed to settle into a routine, gained something to focus on with the Station and everything, I actively registered how my smelling sense and my vision in the dark were improved. Especially with the smelling sense I also got quickly better in distinguishing between sexes and slowly but surely individuals, though I still struggled at times to be able to use that sense subconsciously, even if it did work this time.

This stranger I couldn't place yet. All I had was him being male, so I turned around to see him leaning confidently against the corner of my box in the shooting range, his white markings offering a beautiful contrast to his brown hide and platings. My eyes flickered to his fringe and I suppressed a purr at how impressive it was but I knew he knew if his smirk was any indicator. I turned my attention back to the weather simulator but didn't press anything as I broke the silence.

"Can I help you?"

"I heard about this new female and the big strides she was already making, spending hours in the shooting range training her skills with the sniper rifle. I just wanted to see for myself what all that fuzz was about."

I rose to my feet and walked to a table, sitting down, and with by now trained hands started to disassemble the rifle. "Is your curiosity satisfied?" I asked with no little humor in my voice.

"Not entirely." He chuckled at my twitching mandibles. "You have yet to tell me your name."

"Tulana Vitridonis."

"Galso Nemetis. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tulana."

Oh, I knew what this guy wanted. He wasn't nearly as smooth as he probably thought he was but honestly, I didn't even care. I continued cleaning the rifle and my mandibles twitched ever so slightly.

"The pleasure's all mine, Galso." I answered, before setting the rifle back together and pressing the button to collapse it into it's compact form. I got up from the table and made my way to the weapon shelve, putting a bit of a sway into my hips as I placed the collapsed weapon into it's box from where whoever was on duty would return it to the armory and, upon turning around, could see Galso staring intently at my hips.

I walked past him and had my talons scratch his arm slightly before taking the bag with my name on and my toiletries in it. "I'm going to take a shower, as lonely as it may be. It was nice to meet you."

Leaving the training hall, I entered the female's showers and was glad to see it empty. Removing myself of clothing I chuckled at the wet spot on my undergarments. Some things weren't different between Turians and Humans, their females lubricating upon arousal being one of those things. I was a hundred percent sure that Galso must have smelled my arousal, considering how close my crotch was to his head when I passed him on my way here. If he didn't get _that_ hint then I didn't know what more could have been done.

After my first night here I was ordered to get a physical from the Station's doctor. He basically came to the same conclusion as Chakwas and Michel with all those healed broken bones I apparently had. He also did a check on my genitals and, to my delight, came to the conclusion that I probably was never raped as there was no scarring or any other possible indicators.

The doctor then handed me a box with ten syringes, which was my birth control I had to use once monthly (I didn't even ask about it) and a diet plan.

Enough time had passed since then, my birth control taking effect, and now all I needed was Galso.

Taking out my plate polish I stepped under the automatically starting hot shower and let out a satisfied moan at the feeling. I nearly jumped out of my skin though when I felt talons wrapping themselves around my slender waist.

Turning around I came face to face with Galso, his smirk infuriating me, causing me to punch him in the chest. "I hinted for you to fuck me senseless, not to scare me shitless you stupid _ceko_!" I really needed to train that smelling sense more and become more aware of it.

" _That's_ what you wanted? Why didn't you just say so?" He chuckled, the deep rumble in his chest rattling my bones as he hooked his hands behind my thighs and hoisted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, my mandibles tight against my jaw as I glared at him but that soon went away as I felt his growing member poking around between my legs. I didn't even see what it looked like!

I wriggled around a bit until I felt him lined up just where he needed to be and he wasted no time impaling me on his member and pounding away.

I had no idea how much I needed this and _spirits,_ did it feel good! Galso set up a relentless pace and, from what I could feel, male Turian genitalia seemed to have ridges, rubbing me in all the right places. I couldn't help but moan loudly as he just kept pounding away at me.

Early explorations of my new body turned out with Turian me not having a clitoris anymore and there was no chance I would stick a _talon_ inside of me. Now at least I knew why there was no clitoris. All the necessary nerve endings seemed to be inside of me. Honestly, as Galso was driving me towards an orgasm in a rapid pace I felt myself falling in love with Turian sex. With the copious amount of lubrication a Turian female released upon arousal and the general physiology prohibiting any kind of foreplay- it was sad that I had to read up on human sex again because that too was something that became all fuzzy; if this kept on going all that would be left for me would be my personal memories without the human context, my personality and my knowledge of the Reapers and the Mass Effect game- all that was left was for the male to stick his member up a female and pound her into oblivion. It was so animalistic, wild and rough. I loved it and my loud shout, once I reached my orgasm on Galso's member, made sure that it was well known just how much I loved it.

I went slack on him, my legs resting on his wide hips and my arms limb on his shoulders. Galso pressed me tighter against the wall and his thrusts became rougher as I was somewhere between the afterglow of a wonderful climax and on the brink of another.

My tired gasps morphed into moans once again and I needed just a little bit more. Talons digging into his back and legs curling themselves around him again I urged him on as I felt his movements become more erratic just before he released himself with a snarl inside of me. I climaxed soon after, this one not as brutal as the first, but satisfying nonetheless. A fitting, gentler end to this animal romp.

We both slid down onto the floor and I looked down between my legs as I sat on his lap, my back resting against the shower wall and he half laying down on his back, his arms propping him up. I sighed as his member shrunk enough to slide out of me, his release leaking shortly after. At least I now knew what a male Turian's genitals looked like as I kept looking how it continued shrinking and disappeared out of sight, it seemingly being more protected than human's, from what I've had read at least. It was so confusing to learn and still know some things while forgetting and 'remembering' others.

I rested my head back against the wall and closed my eyes before patting Galso's thigh. "Good job, buddy. I needed that."

"My pleasure."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I bet it was."

* * *

After that steamy shower I still saw Galso occasionally around and we would flirt and everything but it remained at that. It didn't necessarily need to be a one-time-thing but he definitely scratched that itch that needed to be scratched real good so I didn't feel the need for another romp.

Yet.

Most of my days followed a scheduled routine, which was fine by me. I trained, I was well nourished, I got fit. I got pretty proficient with my weapon training and even my hand-to-hand combat talent finally got something to show for.

I still was far off from being sent into the field but was doing well enough for Metso deciding that it was time I got a better omni-tool. The one I stole remained in my room most of the time as it wasn't needed during training and I had no one to send me any messages anyways.

The new one I got was not a glove but actually a tight-fitting metallic wristband and the touching of the holo-screen was made possible with implants at the tip of my talons. At first I thought how impractical that was but soon I found out that evolution apparently didn't have the talons grow by themselves so they never needed to be honed down or something. It actually made me wonder why I never realized that fact by myself since I never even touched my talons in all the time I have been here.

The new tool was definitely better though. Military grade, hacking programs installed and encrypted messaging channels integrated. I soon was ordered to train how to weaponize that thing, how to use overloading and overheating programs and how to aim them.

As it was no easy task I grew frustrated a lot but I knew I had to work through it so that was what I did.

As for my frustration…Galso was more than happy to provide the stress relief.

* * *

Time passed and soon enough news of the Citadel's hero's demise made its way around the Station. The Collector's had made their move just as I had officially finished my training. That wasn't to say that I had nothing left to learn but those things would now mostly come with field experience. I, of course, would still train daily. After a standard Citadel year doing nothing but train and morph my body into a weapon and change weapons from being foreign entities into an extension of my very self, training and honing my skills was simply too deeply ingrained into my being to just stop doing it.

And now, with Shepard being dead, I had roughly two years to make a name for myself.

Those thoughts went through my mind as I was called into Metso's office. I knew there would be no graduation ceremony or something. I didn't want one either. I wanted to be out in the field, to start my work.

I entered the office and Metso, briefly looking up, waved his hand at a chair, indicating for me to take a seat. Doing as I was asked, I waited for him to finish what he was doing on a Datapad. After a few more moments he finally leaned back in his chair, stretching with a groan before he looked at me, a wry grin on his face.

"Sometimes I really do miss field work." He commented idly. "You've been here now for a standard Citadel year, you have followed every schedule and training regimen we gave you rigorously and now here you are." He got up from his seat, turning around and staring at the multiple screens behind his desk. "You are counted as a fully trained member of our little group."

"I definitely feel confident enough to go out on the field." I commented.

"That's good to hear. I remember quite a few before you who asked for another month; something we never offer. If you are not ready, then natural selection out on the field will take care of you."

Well, that certainly was ruthless but whatever.

"Anyways…I have your first job for you." He slid a Datapad over to me and I quickly downloaded its contents into my omni-tool like I was taught. "Nothing to demanding. Your target is a human on Illium. His name is Michael Dawson. He is the founder of a human up-and-coming weapons-manufacturer.

I assume someone local felt threatened by the competition and wants him gone. Ultimately it doesn't matter. What matters is that his life is worth 440.000 Credits and you will see to it that the job gets done. For this one you will get a lift…but once this is done, you are on your own. You will be contacted when we have need of you and you can contact us in case you want to return to the Station."

I nodded my assent even as I was screaming inside. Just my luck that my first job was going to be an assassination but what was I expecting, really? I was wicked with the sniper rifle and, even as my time with Galso proved that I was quite flexible in this body, I didn't feel confident enough in it to try and be a sneak thief. I was sure that at some point Metso would make me steal something but nothing of the sneak-during-midnight-into-people's-homes-and-steal-the-family-heirloom-kind.

After leaving the office, I made my way to my room and opened my locker. Shortly before I filled the year of training I was called to the Station's requisitioner and asked about any wishes I'd have for my armor and weapons.

And now I finally got to wear the beauties. My armor consisted of a fully black Rosenkov armor, specifically fitting my needs. I didn't know that they were doing Turian armor but with the right incentive, meaning money, they were willing to do so. The armor was of the medium tier, neither too heavy nor did it leave me exposed. I had a good movement range in it and it gave me good shield protection, so those things were pretty basic as I didn't need that much fancy stuff when I would spend most of my time far away and out of sight. Cloaking worked via the omni-tool anyways, so there was no need to integrate that into my armor. What I did ask for though were thrusters for the back to give me additional mobility. They were linked to my omni-tool so I could control the directions but they only always had a short burn period, meaning I couldn't fly or anything. Hovering for short periods and dashing to four directions was all there was, which was good enough for me. That they were relatively small and not bulky in any way meant that, when wearing the armor, I hardly realized that they were there.

My sniper rifle and my pistol were both from Rosenkov too (I admit, I sort of am a fan).

I took a breath before stripping down and slipping into my under-armor. It sank in that from now on most of my time would be spend like this; getting ready for a job, getting ready to save the galaxy.

Piece by piece I put on my black armor before putting the rifle and pistols onto the magnetic holsters on my back and hip respectively.

I moved out back into the entrance hall slash hangar where transportations where leaving and returning in quick succession. After checking my omni-tool, where another synchronized one was integrated into the left arm piece of my armor since I couldn't access the wristband one, I went to the appropriate ship and nodded at the pilot in greeting, my helmet carried in my hand. Once inside, I knew for certain that my new life had truly begun.

* * *

So no one could trace me back in any way I was smuggled into Illium, not having to register at any spaceports.

My smuggler dropped me off a bit away from my target to stay out of the radar of any potential witnesses. I checked my omni-tool to asses my position and made my way towards the marker on the map which indicated the loft my target lived in. Putting on my helmet, I ran across the roof, jumped from the ledge and activated the thrusters on my back, catapulting me onto the next roof. My mandibles twitched in excitement under my helmet as my heart beat frantically in my chest. Taking a breath, again I ran across the roof and jumped with the thrusters activated, flying onto the next roof.

I had to repeat this a few more times until the map on my omni-tool indicated that I reached the position I needed. Removing my sniper rifle from its magnetic holster I took a silencer from my belt and screwed it onto the rifle's muzzle.

I positioned myself and my rifle and looked through the scope. The building across from my position was where my victim had his apartment. I had the apartment number still in memory from the Datapad and looked through several windows in estimation. As it was nighttime it was a little bit harder but I got lucky because Dawson was about to get lucky. A human female was grinding against him before slowly kneeling down and pulling his pants down with her in the process.

I felt bad that I was about to traumatize the woman for the rest of her life but such was my new job. In the end I got a lot of money and she got the nightmares.

The window was thankfully open as I had no idea if it could withstand mass effect projectiles but it didn't matter now. I could see him leaning against the open window, exposing himself fully to my rifle as the female moved her head back and forth at his crotch. My brain felt like it should know what she was doing but I shook myself back to focus; now was not the time to try and remember sexual activities from my human past.

Since I wore my helmet I had no need for my visor as the necessary data on wind strength and such was provided to the helmet.

Feeling ready and prepared, I aimed the rifle, held my breath and pulled the trigger.

Dawson's head exploded as the body slumped to the apartment's floor and the woman screamed.

My first assassination was a success.

* * *

When Metso said that I was on my own from now on, he apparently wasn't entirely truthful if that contact from the syndicate with markings identical to mine was any indicator. He found me two hours after the assassination at a meeting place sent to my omni-tool. Once we both were there, he slipped a card with an address and apartment number into my hand and vanished from sight. Shrugging to myself I made my way to the address via a city shuttle and entered the apartment. It was fully furnished and I checked every drawer there was, ending up with a fake ID which could be useful at some point if I ever got into trouble with law enforcements.

Inspecting the fridge, I was glad to find my favorite Turian beverage; a sweet green drink called _kapo_ , best served cold.

I removed my armor and slipped off the wristband-omni-tool before taking off my under-armor. I really was ready for a shower so I didn't waste any time stepping under the hot water, enjoying the relaxation it provided.

For the first time since I did it, I allowed my mind to wonder towards the fact that I was now officially a murderess. I killed somebody. I pulled the trigger that took a man's life away. I knew I should feel horrible but I actually didn't. There was no sick pleasure I was taking out of that act of course; I simply didn't care one way or another. It wasn't because I was a complete and utter sociopath.

The one simple reason was that Dawson was a nobody to me. He was faceless in the sense that all I knew about him were the bare bones I needed to take him out: his basic background, the location of his office and the location of his apartment.

His relations, family and whatever else I didn't need and I didn't want to know.

Maybe some day I would reach a point that would allow me to simply kill people that needed to be killed; because a contract demanded it or simply out of necessity, no matter how much I knew about them.

The fact that Dawson was a faceless nobody to me allowed me to not freak out, I was aware of that.

But I remembered Metso saying that every kill was easier than the last. I trusted him in that.

I let a sigh escape after I was done polishing my platings, having them look pretty and shiny, and stepped out of the shower before drying myself.

I laid down naked on the bed, staring at the ceiling. My omni-tool was blinking and I reached over to grab it from where I dropped it on the bed, activating it.

I got a message from Metso, stating that I earned myself 88.000 Credits.

That much money for a single shot.

Metso certainly knew how to make a female happy.

* * *

 **AN:** Is there even some sort of fanon for the Turian language? I don't know so I just decided to add a made up Turian word or two every once in a while just to look fancy.


	4. Archangel

**AN:** I'm popping these chapters out like it's nothing! Not much to say here that wasn't said in chapter three, so without further ado: enjoy!

 **Spiritstrike:** Thanks for the site! It's definitely interesting and I might use some stuff and words there with my own headcanons and invented words.

* * *

When you are a rising star in the assassin's craft you get more and more interesting jobs as the time passes. In the past two years since I started killing people for money I didn't give myself too much free time since I did not have a lot to do outside of killing people for money. Metso actually did give me the odd thieving job too but if I was honest, it lacked the thrill assassinations held for me.

Yes, I actually kind of grew into this. I haven't become some homicidal maniac Turian, I still am a joy to hang around with but I mentally have accepted and even embraced my craft. The people I kill mean nothing to me and in the great scheme of things they mostly were small fishes in a pond full of underwater predators. I simply became one of those predators.

I became so good at being a predator that Metso even congratulated me. I still, of course, was a long ways off from having a legendary reputation or whatever and our syndicate had a lot of more successful and experienced assassins than I was. But at the end of the day I could proudly proclaim that my goal at becoming an up and coming name in the underworld was successful. Well, aside from the name-part, since no one knew it, obviously.

The syndicate had middle-males strategically placed at several branches and high-activity locations of the Milky Way's underworld and if they felt there could be an opportunity for the syndicate they would set the appropriate wheels into motion.

It usually didn't take long for Metso to receive the information on new targets to kill and steal, the job always already paid for.

And now, here I was, staring at my omni-tool and the job I received.

 _Target: Archangel_

 _Location: Omega_

 _No further information on target available. Eclipse, Blue Suns and Bloodpack are joining forces to take him down._

I slipped out from under the arm wrapped around my waist as the male I spent the night with kept snoring away, oblivious to the fact that the female who rode him the entire night was tasked with killing a mysterious mercenary leader on Omega.

I made my way quickly to…Kaius'? Katus'? Something starting with Ka-, I was sure. Anyways, I made my way to this male's bathroom, careful not to leak his load all over the floor and took a quick shower, pleasantly surprised that he actually had my favorite plate polish brand.

Once clean, I quickly put back on my clothes and went to leave the apartment when I came face to face with another female who had just entered the apartment.

We both stared each other, her eyes widened and mandibles impossibly tight against her jaw, while my mandibles just twitched awkwardly.

Yeah, that male _was_ complaining about his mate and how she was not adventurous enough in the bed.

 _Awkward._

I, for one, just mumbled a quick 'excuse me' and walked past her out of the apartment when I heard a loud yelp followed by a "Who was that female, Votus?! Is this her _underwear_?!"

That _was his name,_ I thought to myself, _I knew I was close!_

* * *

Getting to Omega was not as hard as I thought. Just get to the shadiest bar on Illium and ask for a lift and if they ask for a 'favor' in return hold a gun at their face and dare them to say that again. I enjoyed sleeping around as much as the next female but I was not going to whore myself out just to get a few star systems over. Idiot males.

An Asari Red Sand smuggler finally took pity on me and told me I could join her for her trip there. It didn't take long for us to get there and as entertaining as her stories were, I was glad to get out of that ship as I kept having that paranoid feeling of all the canisters breaking and me inhaling that stuff and becoming addicted.

I changed into my armor on the ship and had my weapons holstered. Over the past two years I had modified my helmet so that it would collapse itself onto the chest-piece of my armor when it wasn't needed with just a push of a button on my omni-tool as I found it annoying to carry it around the whole time. It was crazy expensive and came with a lot of trial and error but in the end it was worth it.

I looked around Omega for a bit and took in the smell of prostitution, addiction and decay. I was here a couple of times for a job but it had been a while. I walked for a while and found myself in front of the Afterlife before long. I walked past the Elcor bouncer, who would not let that one human inside, and went up to the bar to get a drink for myself. Quickly paying, I took a seat and sipped at the drink, enjoying the burn it left on my throat.

I wondered how I should go about this thing. I obviously couldn't just kill Garrus. He was needed, he was Shepard's best bud and he was really cute. I couldn't just go with the rocket-in-the-face-thing either. This wasn't a game; if he took a rocket to the face he was dead. Literally dead and not Archangel-dead-but-Garrus-alive. It also was unlikely that Shepard and her team could survive an onslaught of three gangs just like that, no matter how suicidal a charge through the bridge was for them. No, I was very aware that I needed to help them. The problem was just how the fuck I was supposed to explain this to Metso? Why did those morons hire an assassin for the job when they were all charging in there anyways?

Damn it. This was not only going to hurt my reputation but the reputation of the entire syndicate.

Downing my drink, I got up from my seat and made my way to where I knew the recruitment was taking place when I caught the scent of four humans entering this place, following a Batarian. My mandibles twitched as I saw Shepard for the first time after three years again and she didn't really look good. A scowl was firmly set on her features, her skin was paler than I remembered and she looked entirely uncomfortable with her company.

I really felt bad for her, waking up after being spaced and then burned in a planet's atmosphere to find yourself at the mercy of a group of manic human supremacists when the bulk of the team you remembered was made out of all kinds of aliens.

I sighed and was about to continue my way to the recruitment room when I caught Miranda's eyes and saw hers widen before she held out a hand to the rest of the team and checked something on her omni-tool. My mandibles tightened against my jaw as I wondered what was going on.

The Cerberus queen bee made her way quickly towards me before inspecting my face- or probably my markings to be more precise- before she spoke up. "Miranda Lawson, Cerberus Operative. I assume you are the Black Death."

I blinked several times at that title. "The what?"

"Black Death. That is what people are calling you." Miranda seemed slightly irritated.

"I was not aware that I had gained a fancy title. What do you want, anyways?"

"You are here for Archangel, yes? Don't deny, we know you are." I was unwillingly impressed at the speed at which the Illusive Man seemed to gain his information. "The Illusive Man is the one who hired you. He wanted you in Omega so we could hire you to help us out."

Never mind. "And you couldn't simply ask to hire me for whatever before, because…?"

"Your employer refused to risk your life in a suicide mission, no matter how much money we offered, so we created a faux hire for assassination."

"And your _illustrious man_ doesn't understand what 'no' means?" I chuckled inwardly at her scowl as I intentionally screwed with the Illusive Man's title.

"It's _Illusive Man_. We need the best for what we need to do and you are one of the best. We are willing to pay you a significant amount of money for your services."

"How significant?"

"Two-hundred-and-twenty-million."

 _Damn._ I mean I would have joined them either way, but _damn_. "I'm sold. Just make sure your boss finds a way to tell my boss what this was really about."

Miranda nodded absentmindedly as she was busying herself with her omni-tool before leading me back to the group waiting impatiently for us. Shepard was eyeing me curiously, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You seem familiar. Do I know you?" She asked, her voice slightly rougher around the edges. The Commander was probably still in the middle of healing.

My mandibles flared out in a small grin. "Remember that lost, naked Turian female on Eden Prime three years ago?"

Her eyes widened comically and I couldn't help the chuckles escaping. "No way! How did you end up here?"

"As touching as this reunion is, we have a job to do." Miranda offered her opinion, earning herself a growl from Shepard.

"You want to hire Archangel, too?" I asked the humans, Miranda and Jacob both nodding, while Shepard and Zaeed showed no reaction whatsoever. Zaeed, because he didn't seem to care and Shepard, because she seemed to still be on the confrontational approach with Cerberus. "Yes, well, then you better hurry. He somehow managed to make the Suns, Bloodpack and Eclipse join forces just to take him down."

"He must have pissed them off something fierce." Shepard commented, though it was obvious that she was impressed.

The Commander led us upstairs to Aria's little throne room. When I got here for my first assassination on Omega, I was kindly asked to meet with Aria here. She wanted to know who I was and what I wanted here and told me her little rule which I had to follow. It didn't make me like her any better.

Once we were there Aria nodded her head at a spot to sit down for the Commander. "I don't like being left to wait."

"I'm sure you'll survive, Aria."

The Asari looked at me standing a bit in the shadows, before smirking softly. "Tulana, my favorite little assassin."

Shepard's head swiveled towards me while Zaeed simply chuckled. "You are an assassin?!" "I knew I recognized them markings from somewhere."

I merely shrugged, ignoring Jacob's scowl burning a hole into my head, as Aria spoke again, her attention on Shepard.

"Now, what does a dead Spectre do on Omega?"

"We are looking for Archangel." The redheaded Commander took the direct approach.

Aria hummed in interest, a leg crossed over the other as she bobbed a foot lazily. "Everyone does."

"We are probably the only ones who want him to survive." I commented, leaning back against a wall with my arms crossed over my breastplates.

"Now _that's_ interesting." Aria smirked again. I really hated that smirk. "I was starting to get bored already. That Turian somehow managed to piss off every gang on Omega and is holed up inside a building with no way out. The gang's are recruiting downstairs. You might want to hurry up."

Shepard thanked her and we made our way down to the dance floor. "What's her deal anyways? She acts like she owns the place." The Commander muttered in annoyance.

"Because she does." Zaeed clarified gruffly for her as I confirmed what the former Blue Sun leader said.

"Just be glad that she didn't give you the _I am Omega!_ or _Don't fuck with Aria!_ speeches. I had to go through that nonsense when I first got here."

"I still can't get over the fact that you are an assassin." Shepard shook her head. "I still remember you being that lost and confused kid."

"I wasn't a kid, I was nineteen." I muttered in annoyance. "Maybe I'll tell you about it at some point, but now we have a job to do." I opened the door to the recruitment room and was immediately greeted by that condescending Batarian guy.

"You are in the wrong room, sweetheart. Strippers are hired two rooms to the left." My mandibles flattened themselves against my jaw as I gripped the back of his head and slammed his face against the table hard, blood spraying as he stumbled backwards and fell down, holding his face in pain.

"Try again. This time like you actually want to take down Archangel."

"You are hired…just…get the fuck out of here!" He snarled and I looked at the stunned partner of this guy, who then gave us the directions to the skycars that would transport us to the command base of the gangs. I knew all of that already, of course, but I had to play along. Explaining how I knew everything would be too much of a hassle.

On our way out Shepard also took that one kid's cheap gun away, saving his life in the process even if he didn't know that. I didn't care either way. If he thought that buying a gun in Omega's street would make him tough that was his problem, not mine.

We then exited the Afterlife and made our way to the skycars. It was time to save Garrus.

* * *

Once we landed, I took stock of the situation. I already knew things from the game, but if I learned anything in the three years I've been living in the Mass Effect universe, it was that the game and real life differed a lot.

I was proven right again here. The barricade the gangs had set up was occupied with several mercs as in the game but they were smarter of course. Garrus had almost no time to fire as he was constantly put under pressure by at least one merc when the others would rest or reload. If he did even try to pick out of the window he'd be dead.

The leaders were of course inside their base as they were planning another charge- a distraction from the ones preparing to enter through the back of Garrus' hideout.

"We should take out a few of their toys…" I muttered softly and the rest of the group nodded. We sneaked around a bit, looking as inconspicuous as possible while being directed to Cathka several times. We finally found the storage room for their YMIR- Mechs. Unlike the game, they had four of those beasts and I was more than happy to mess with them.

Shepard nodded approvingly, obviously aware of what I did and my mandibles twitched at her silent praise. Who'd have thought I'd ever earn Commander Shepard's approval?

The Commander then led us towards the bridge of death, the sole pathway between Garrus and the base the gangs set up. There we came face to face with Cathka, who was busy repairing the gunship that would shoot a rocket at Garrus' handsome face.

"We were told to meet with Cathka. You him?" Shepard asked the Batarian.

The mechanic stopped his work to look at us, his eyes appraising our attire. "At least some of you look like they might have a chance to survive the day." He then eyed a group of freelancers approaching our position before he nodded towards them. "You will join them. You'll be a distraction for another wave that will try a different approach." My mandibles clicked at his nasty grin.

"You won't join us, I assume?" The Commander had her arms crossed over her chest.

The Batarian let out a barking laugh. "No, I actually enjoy my life too much. Besides, I am too busy getting this baby ready to fly." He then turned around, apparently the conversation finished for him.

Shepard then eyed the gunship, shrugged, took the tool from the table and slammed it wordlessly ramming it into the back of his mechanic uniform, electrocuting him.

I found this so much cooler than how I remembered it because of how casual she was about it.

We then joined the group of freelancers, me activating my helmet before turning to Miranda. "Try to stay away from the gunfire. That suit will not give you any protection." The Cerberus operative just huffed in annoyance.

Once the signal for the charge was given the freelancers rushed in, jumping over the barricade and dashing from cover to cover as Garrus did his best to at least slow them down. I took my pistol in my hand and looked at Shepard who, with a nod, had us follow the amateur mercenaries. I jumped over the barricade and activated the thrusters on the back of my suit, catapulting me forward. Slamming into the back of the freelancer farthest behind the rest with my knee he yelled out in pain at the sickening crunch sounding from his body. I put him down with shot at the back of his head.

Shepard was apparently a biotic as she sent shockwaves and singularities left and right, the way she worked together with Miranda surprising as they created deafening biotic explosions which threw the freelancers off the bridge and into walls. Jacob and Zaeed were content with covering me and the two human females with sprays from their assault rifles.

As the two biotics took down several enemies at once, quickly creating us a clean path through, all that was left for me to do was executing any survivers.

Metso was right after all: I had no qualms whatsoever anymore about killing people.

We quickly entered the building and there wasn't much left to do anymore as Shepard created another singularity, lifting up the couple freelancers left and Miranda disintegrated them when she warped one created another explosion.

We then made our way upstairs and there he was; sitting with his back against a wall by the window, his exhaustion obvious.

As I collapsed my helmet back down, Shepard approached the tired sniper.

"Archangel?" She asked cautiously.

The male slowly got up to his feet, using his rifle as a crutch to help him up. He then removed his helmet and my mandibles were tight against my jaw in a frown. From his facial plating alone it was obvious just how much he had been through. He looked like he hadn't eaten, slept and showered in weeks, which probably wasn't even that wrong as the plating looked dirty, grimy and even brittle whereas mine were shiny, clean and smooth.

Shepard though didn't care. "Garrus!" Her face lit up as she rushed towards him and gave him a tight squeeze as he patted her back awkwardly. It was understandable though; aside from Tali for a short time Garrus was the first familiar face amidst a group of strangers and enemies she saw herself forced to work with.

"I thought you were dead."

She retracted herself from him and looked kind of uncomfortable. "I sort of was. It's a long story." After a short pause, she continued. "What about you? How did you manage to piss off every gang on Omega?"

"I did, didn't I?" He chuckled. "And that's a long story too." His eyes then took the rest of our group in, pausing slightly at me. "Who are your friends?"

"Tulana, Miranda, Jacob and Zaeed." She told him our names after pointing at each of us. "Now, how do we get you out of here?"

"That's a good question. I actually thought I'd just die here, go out with a bang y'know? There's only one way in or out. Of course they could try to access the back entrance but it's all shut down with heavy gates and they'd have to-"

There was a loud rumble from below and my mandibles flared widely as I laughed. "You were saying?"

"We have to split up and keep shut the gates again." Shepard stated the obvious. "Miranda, Zaeed, come with me downstairs. Tulana and Jacob, you stay with Garrus."

This was so awesome, Shepard in Commander Shepard mode.

Putting a hand on my shoulder, Shepard forced my attention towards her. "Keep him alive, please."

It was startling but understandable. She found me, the assassin stranger with memory loss more trustworthy than the ex-Alliance soldier who joined Cerberus. I nodded at her and she then left with the other biotic and the bounty hunter.

The three of us who were left stood around kind of awkwardly before I decided to just go for business. "How much ammo do you have left?" I asked the other Turian.

"Not much, to be honest. I've been pinned down here for days…weeks. I don't even know anymore."

I nodded before pulling out several clips from my belt, throwing them at Garrus who caught them with gratitude. "Let's do this then. You good, Jacob?"

"I got all I need, thanks."

I huffed in irritation at his gruff tone, but distinctly remembered him not being a fan of assassins.

Well, no matter to me. We spread out a bit at the window, but soon realized just how uncomfortable and impractical it was.

"One of us should maybe go downstairs, pick off those who make it through." I commented before backing away from the window. "You any good with sniper rifles, Jacob?"

"Not my first choice, but I've been trained with them and kept it up."

I then handed him my baby but held on as he grasped it. "Take good care of it." I then released it and went downstairs.

As I reached the stairs I heard the first shot being fired. I then activated my helmet again and watched as the group of freelancers rushed again, probably another distraction suicide squad.

Both Jacob and Garrus had impressive aim, always taking out their targets with a single shot bot the odd one managed to slip through. Still, I took care of them quickly.

None of the freelancers had any notable armor or shields, making them nothing but gun fodder. It was a sad sight, really.

But soon enough I saw a few Bloodpack mercs pushing the freelancers away as they rushed through the bridge, Garm leading the charge.

"Shit!" I cursed when the Krogan rushed at me, forcing me to activate the thrusters to dash away. He rammed into the staircase and my shields flared up as a spray of gunfire from a Vorcha forced them up. I aimed my pistol at his head and pulled the trigger but his natural armor and regeneration still kept him alive. Garm again rushed at me, his Krogan rage turning him into a single-minded beast that forced me deeper and depper into defense. Jacob and Garrus were still kept busy with the freelancers at the bridge while I was starting to breath hard as the couple Vorchas and the Krogan battlemaster were forcing me to dash and duck, trying not to get hit by any throws Garm was trying to catch me with, allowing only the odd shot that didn't even faze them.

I almost cried in relief when Shepard, Miranda and Zaeed returned, Zaeed pouring incendiary rounds into the Vorchas while Shepard and Miranda bombarded the Krogan with warps, soon ending the fight.

"Damn…" I let out a shaky sigh. "Staying far away and firing a single shot is much more fun than that was."

"Fighting a Krogan battlemaster is never fun." Shepard chuckled. "But you did good, kept him away from upstairs and kept him occupied until we returned."

"Thanks, I guess."

I got back to my feet and followed the rest of the group upstairs where Garrus took out the last straggler on the bridge.

Looking out through the window my mandibles flared in a grin as I saw the large mechs transported to the battle. "That's going to be fun." I chuckled to myself, causing everyone else to look out just as the mechs were activated and started to mow down everyone and anything in their close proximity, leaving only a bloodbath as the moved towards the base.

Just then, the sound of a gunship was heard as it started up and rose into the sky, but only halfway through its repairs and with YMIR-Mechs gone rogue it didn't last long as said mechs quickly shot it down causing a large explosion at the enemy base.

"I suppose we are done here?" I asked, cheering on the inside that Garrus' face was saved.

"I suppose we are." Shepard grinned. "Good work everyone."

Miranda nodded and called the Normandy for pickup as Garrus slumped tiredly onto the floor. "I never thought I'd get out of here alive. Thank you, Shepard."

"It's what I do. Swoop in, save the day; the usual."

Garrus couldn't say or do anything but laugh at that.

* * *

The new Normandy SR2- the Cerberus version of it- was indeed quite a bit larger than the original and it felt oddly…sterile. And hostile.

As soon as Garrus and I stepped inside we received suspicious glares from the Cerberus soldiers and it was annoying really. Both the ex-C-Sec and I had our mandibles tight against our jaw, the only distraction being EDI popping up and briefing us on the Normandy's layout.

Soon enough we were out of sight though and inside the Briefing Room.

"I have read your dossier; at least what little there was available. Quite impressive, if you can call anything an assassin does 'impressive'." Jacob commented once everyone was inside.

I turned towards Jacob, my annoyance evident in my voice. "You got a problem?"

"You mean aside from having to work with an assassin?" The dark hided human glared at me.

I laughed at that. "I, an alien to your people, have to stay on a ship full with alien-hating human supremacists for the forseeable future. You don't see me being a little _kuiok_ about it, do you?"

"That didn't translate." I heard Shepard whisper.

Garrus quickly answered. "It wasn't a compliment."

Miranda bristled at my view on Cerberus and was quick to speak up. "We are not-"

"Come on! Everyone knows about Akuze, it was all over the news. Not even your own people are entirely save from you!"

And it really was. The Alliance wanted to keep the whole thing on the down low but someone apparently leaked the information.

Shepard stiffened at the mention of Akuze and I felt bad for brief moment for bringing that up, as it was her backstory in this universe.

"That wasn't us! It was a rogue cell of our organization and-"

"I never killed someone." I interrupted her again, my voice mocking. "It was a rogue assassin."

Zaeed, at least, found this whole thing apparently funny if his barking laughter was any indicator.

I not so much, as I turned back to Jacob. "If I were you, I'd be careful with my opinions from now on. What was that human saying? With a house of glass and rocks?"

"'People who live in a glass house shouldn't throw stones'." Shepard helped me out and I was glad that she let the team work out their differences on their own. We were all adults after all and didn't need someone to chew our food for us.

"Exactly that." Again I felt my insides clench at the lack of memory for my humanity. By now, it was basically entirely gone. All I knew was that once, somewhere in the far past, I was human and was reborn like this. "You work for people who experiment on sentient species. On their own people. You are nowhere better than I am." I then shouldered my way past the dark skinned human. "I'll stay in the main battery room."

"That's where I wanted to stay." Garrus called out.

I simply waved a hand at that in dismissal. "We can share."

The male just sighed in defeat as the rest of the group remained silent.

* * *

I made my way to the main battery in blissful silence, ignoring the glances I received from a large chunk of the Normandy's staff and soon enough entered the room, the soft hum kind of soothing. It wasn't like I was ashamed of my occupation. Far from it. I simply hated hypocrites and Jacob was one of the biggest I had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

People acting all high and mighty in regards of my job while at the same time working for one of the most despicable groups ever formed? I would never take talk from them lying down.

A few moments after I had disrobed to my under-armor, the door opened and in came Garrus, his mandibles twitching in discomfort.

"If it really bothers you so much I can find another place." I offered but he quickly shook his head.

"No, it's okay. Sorry." He disrobed himself to his under-armor before leaning against the wall opposite to where I was sitting, looking at me. "I don't even know why I felt so uncomfortable to be honest. We weren't allowed modesty in boot camp after all, it should have been driven out of me by now."

"I don't know." I shrugged and continued at his questioning look. "I cant remember anything beyond the time when Shepard found me on Eden Prime. I just woke up there knowing nothing and barefaced. Only a few hours later did I even remember my name."

Garrus eyed me intently, which made me kind of uneasy, before he spoke up. "What did you say your name was? Tulana?"

"Yes?"

"Your family name?"

"Vitridonis. Why?" Garrus' mandibles twitched several times as silence filled the room and I had a feeling he knew something and that feeling was being proved right.

"I…heard of a case during my time at C-Sec…a Citadel politicians niece with the last name Vitridonis vanished when she was on her way to visit him."

All I could do was staring at him with wide eyes and mandibles when he told me that.


	5. Family

**AN:** Chapter 5, guys. I have so much fun writing this right now, I just keep going and going. It is great when your muse works like this.

 **Kaiya Azure, TheRangerBoy, Spiritstrike:** :o)

 **Pikahopp:** I hope you will be a little bit satisfied here. There's of course going to be so much more to learn about her personal backstory but that will come in due time.

 **ArchAngel319:** Thanks for always wishing me fun writing!

* * *

The human part of the squad was out to find Mordin Solus and I was sitting on the floor of the main battery room, after a much needed shower, with my back against the wall as I was deep in thought.

What Garrus said resonated something inside of me. I felt a deep desire to find out if this lost niece of a Citadel politician was really me. Not even sure why I wanted to, but there was a pull and ache in my chest that needed the be soothed and I knew finding out more about my past would sooth it.

It would also help finding out just _who_ I actually was. All I had for an identity was what I created in the past three years and as good as that was, it wasn't _satisfying_. It didn't feel like home. At least not anymore.

I could be more than _Tulana Vitridonis, assassin, Black Death_. But then again, did I really want to? What I had now was easy, was simple. I had no strings and ties other than what I promised Metso and what I was willing to offer Shepard, which was good as it made navigating this universe and risking my life that much easier and less complicated. There was no one I had to think about and could just go on doing what needed to be done and what I wanted to do.

But now…did I really have no one here? Was I really all alone in this universe? _If_ what Garrus said was true than there was at least one person- possibly at least one other- who are/were looking for me. Were they still? It probably had been almost ten years since when I apparently disappeared.

It could, of course, all just blow up in my face if it was another Tulana Vitridonis and not me but as long as there was the chance…I could have a family. I could have an uncle, maybe a mother and father too. Maybe a younger or older sibling.

I could have a past. I could be _someone_ again, have an actual _identity_. As much as I enjoyed my life, the money I earned with just a single pull of a trigger, the thrill of my occupation and the wild animal poundings the males of my species were so capable of providing me with…the loss of who I once was left an emptiness somewhere deep inside of me. I was…nobody. Who was I? I couldn't say. Who was I before becoming a Turian? I couldn't say that anymore either. I lost who I was as a human aside from the knowledge that once I _was_ a human who knew this world through a game, but even that was blurring. The only constant knowledge remaining was my knowledge of the Reapers and my desire to help the Commander. I was becoming more and more a constant and firm part of this world and whatever was not fitting in here was withering away slowly.

And still, I was no one but an assassin in this world either. I was twenty-two years old now and only had memories of the past three years.

If I were to find my family, though, would they want me even back? After everything I did? I killed people, ruined lives for money. If word ever came out of my occupation I could ruin my potential politician uncle's carrier without even having to try.

This all was just so complicated and I growled in frustration. I sat up and exited the main battery, feeling restless and in need for a distraction. Walking to the mess hall I checked the fridge to see if there was something to cook there was nothing but nutrition paste. Sighing, I took one and opened it up before squeezing out a glob into my mouth. Almost immediately I gagged and swallowed it down with a lot of difficulty but threw the rest of the paste away.

"Disgusting…" I muttered to myself, shivering harshly.

A chuckle made me turn around and glare at Garrus.

"You'll get used to it. Eventually." He sat down at the mess hall table and motioned for me to join him. "How are you holding up?"

I glanced at him, my talons tapping idly at the table, before I sighed and leaned back on my chair, mandibles tightening at how uncomfortable they were; clearly made with only humans in mind. "I don't know." I finally answered his question. It was cute how he worried about my feelings to his revelation, but it was unnecessary, really. I was a big female who had been taking care of herself for a while now in a place as unforgiving and dangerous as the one we lived in, but I indulged him all the same. "It could all be a bust. It could be some other Tulana Vitridonis. It also could be me, of course and I could still end up being unwanted. The hierarchy does not take kindly to Turians with my occupation and I could make lives harder just by being a publicly known relative to…well, whomever."

"You are not going to do anything, then?"

"As I said…I don't know."

He was silent for a while as was I, both not really sure what to say, but it wasn't uncomfortable by any means. I wasn't sure if it was because he was another Turian in a ship full of xenophobe humans or something else, but I found his presence comforting.

"You know," he spoke up after our few moments of silence, "my father and I…we do not exactly have the best relationship. My mother and my sister, more than once, had to knock our heads together during our shouting matches." He chuckled and my mandibles widened in a soft smile as I listened. "But I know, that…despite our differences, both I and my father would drop everything if we needed each other's help. I know, despite the way I act towards him, that he is proud of me. Maybe not of my choices, but he knows why I make them…he simply doesn't like that I _do_ make them. He would be devastated if I disappeared without a trace or let alone died. I know that and that's why, despite being prepared to die, I was so relieved to have survived that shitshow. I really didn't want to put my family through that kind of worry and pain."

"So, what are you saying?" I sort of knew what he was saying but I really wanted the words.

"Take the chance. For all you know, you have a family out there who thought you were dead all this time."

* * *

Nodding to myself with mandibles tight at my jaw I felt my heart clench and my stomach tighten in nervousness.

I hovered a bit in front of the door when I was startled by the _whoosh_ it made when opening, revealing the new team member, Doctor Mordin Solus.

He gave me a curious look before analyzing me. "Tight mandibles. Startled at opening door. Probably been waiting for several minutes. Indecision. Obvious nervousness. Most likely reason: needs to speak to the Commander about private matter. I will take my leave."

I blinked after him and shook my head before entering the Briefing Room, the door closing behind me. Shepard looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to start.

"I…are there any plans to go to the Citadel anytime soon?" I asked nervously.

Shepard eyed me for a moment, before nodding. "The Citadel's actually our next stop since Anderson's wanted to see me. May I ask why you asked? You don't have to answer of course, but I'd like to make sure that my crew knows they can trust me and that I am always willing to help should they need it."

"Thanks, I appreciate it…I…" I paused for a moment, fidgeting where I stood. Nowhere near did I look like an assassin with hundreds of kills under her belt but more than ever like an angsty youngling. "Garrus…he said, that he…he said that when he was still a C-Sec-Officer he heard about a missing case with my name as the, uh…victim?…apparently I…or she…was to visit her…or my? uncle, who happens to be a politician there. Unfortunately Garrus doesn't have a name on the politician so I thought I'd go and check out at C-Sec if they could help me out."

"That's actually great! You might find your family. I'm sure they'd be happy to know that you are alive and well."

"Maybe…I don't want to get my hopes up. It's just a starting point to figure out just what actually happened to me." I shrugged.

Shepard nodded at that. "Fair enough. I hope Garrus' instincts were right though and that you'll at least get your family back. If you find out anything about whatever happened to you, though, let me know."

"I will. And thank you."

* * *

"I don't know why I need a physical. I am more than healthy. All I wanted were hormone regulators and birth control shots."

Dr. Chakwas ignored my complaints as she ran her omni-tool-scanner over my body, nodding in satisfaction at the readings. "That you are, but nevertheless, regular physical checkups are mandatory."

I just sighed, making my displeasure more than obvious. Totally unnecessary to waste my time like this when she could have just handed me my syringes.

"How are you otherwise? Have you had any luck with your memories in the past years?"

"Not really. But I might have a lead at least. Maybe."

Chakwas hummed, before she turned off her scanner and looked at me. "Better than nothing I suppose."

Soon enough I was free to leave, arms full with two boxes of syringes as the Normandy was still on her way to the Citadel. I entered my and Garrus' new sleeping quarters and placed the boxes next to my makeshift bed. Garrus' was a little farther ahead from mine. We both had picked a couple spots in the room for a few clothes; we had to buy a few on Omega but it would make do for now. If something more was needed we could get it on the Citadel and sooner or later we would get to Illium anyways where I had all my stuff in my apartment.

Heading back out, I went to the elevator and pressed the button for the second deck. Thankfully the ride didn't take too long and I soon stepped out and made my way towards the bridge and Joker, who was bickering with EDI- or at least trying to as EDI didn't quite seem to capture the concept of 'bickering'.

"Excuse me." I made my presence known and Joker turned his chair around to look at me.

"What's up?"

"You are Joker, right? The pilot?" I knew of course, but he didn't know that I did. "I wanted to ask how much longer we needed until we reached the Citadel."

"Should be about two more hours, standard Citadel time."

I nodded in thanks and was about to turn around and leave, but Joker's curious staring stopped me. My mandibles twitched in slight irritation. "Is something the matter?"

"Nah, I've just never seen a Turian lady and was curious. So those horn things are just for the males, yeah?"

I half laughed and half sighed. "They are called 'fringe' and yes, only our males have them."

"Huh." Joker nodded before turning around, our conversation seemingly ended as his curiosity was sated.

Shaking my head, I left without further comment. Better him just asking outright instead of staring at me unabashedly.

Time seemed to pass very slowly and I started to feel restless. The nervousness about what I may or may not find out about my potential family combined with boredom was making my body itch with the need to release some pent-up energy, so I sought out Garrus and quickly found him in the armory, cleaning his sniper rifle.

"Garrus, you want to spar? I really feel restless."

He nodded in acknowledgement and I waited for him to finish his work. This really was a Turian thing and for whatever reason, I knew that. Holed up in a ship with long periods of not doing anything; a race of apex predators and standing upon the pillars of militaristic ideologies- not in a bad way- was a race of action. Inaction was not something our biology and psychology took well and for me, paired with the mental stress I felt since Garrus told me about my potential relative, it was even worse than for a simply bored Turian. When I had slow periods in my assassination career, I at least had the opportunity to go out and find males for a night of passion to take the edge of any restlessness away.

The former C-Sec was thankfully finally done with his rifle and we were soon on our way down to the hangar deck. Both already clad in Turian slacks, we were ready and stood a few feet apart from each other.

"How do you want to do this?" Garrus asked me.

I thought for a moment before nodding. "Two out of three. Who can keep the other down for two seconds wins the round."

Accepting my offered rules, he got into his stance, as did I. We circled each other for a few moments before his arm lashed out at me. I quickly dodged and gripped his stretched out limb, pulling him forward and tripping him over an outstretched leg. Garrus, ever the quick thinker, used the momentum of his fall and rolled away from me, denying me the opportunity to keep him pinned.

He got back to his feet and grinned at me. "Not bad."

I grinned back and was already loving my choice to ask him to spar. This was starting to become fun very quickly.

This time I was the aggressor and jumped at him, my arms weaving around him, a shoulder digging into his stomach as I was trying to push him down. Obviously, this was not the most graceful attempt and Garrus grabbed me around my waist, lifting me up before slamming me onto the floor. He was on top of me, his front on my back but I was flexible. My body twisting, I rolled onto my back so that we were front to front and quickly caught his head between my legs, my arms protecting me from his.

With a snarl, he pushed himself up as much as he could, squeezing one arm between a leg and his head to give him some space to breath. I rolled my body a bit to grab a leg of his and pulled it towards me, causing him to fall on his back but he quickly rolled to his side, forcing me back under him.

He then turned around as I had to release my legs from around his neck, getting face to face with me, my legs spread with him positioned between them.

Smug as he was looking I couldn't help but chuckle in good humor with a twitch of my mandibles. "I don't know you well enough yet for you to be in such a position with me." I joked, causing a deep rumble in his chest as he laughed.

I forced my legs closer and squeezed them under his body, trying to push him away with all the leg strength I could muster but he had me pinned good.

"I suppose you win this round." I admitted and it required a lot of willpower not slap the smugness off his facial platings.

"You are damn good at hand-to-hand." Garrus said as he got up and offered a hand, which I gratefully took as he pulled me up, both of us breathing hard. "Actually kind of reminds me of my time in the Turian military. We were headed to deal with some Batarian pirates. Very risky."

It was times like these when I wished that I didn't remember the Mass Effect game because I had a damn hard time to keep myself from shrieking as my only thoughts consisted of _'spirits, he really is about to tell me that story?!'_

"There was this recon scout," he continued, "and she and I were constantly at each others throats. Nerves mostly."

"I suppose you both sparred to release some of the steam and aggression towards each other?" I asked, though I knew _very_ _well_ what happened.

Garrus nodded in confirmation. "After nine rounds a tie was called. We both were the best hand-to-hand combatants in our squad."

 _Here it comes_.

"I had reach, but she had flexibility."

 _Spirits._

"Your fighting style actually reminds me of her. Who taught you? I remember you saying you had no memory of boot camp or something?"

"Don't know if you'd know her. She was part of the, uh… _group_ I was part of. They took in any and all barefaces. Her name's Nitana Bolanius."

Garrus' mandibles widened, then tightened, then widened again before he shook his head with a low chuckle. "Of course it is."

"I get the feeling that she was the… _flexible_ scout?"

"She was. Never thought she'd be kicked out of the Hierarchy. Wonder what happened…"

I merely shrugged. "She never told me anything other than how to take down an enemy and that I was a sloppy fighter. A really private Turian."

Garrus laughed again. "She accused me of being sloppy during our sparring, too." Turning towards me he gave me the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen on a Turian. "I quickly released her of that notion during a, uh, private sparring session. Once again I had reach…but damn, she was flexible."

 _SPIRITS!_

* * *

When the Normandy finally arrived at the Citadel, most of the team took the time to take some time off on firm ground. It was a good thing that the syndicate I was part of for most of my time since I woke up in this world was not really well known in Citadel space; for as long as we were not speaking of certain circles of course. There were rumors, yes, but they were just that- rumors. The Terminus Systems, were we operated most of the time and were by far most of the middle-males were stationed, people knew of us, or at least what to look for.

Here, though…I could pass the security with less hassle than Shepard, so I immediately made my way to Bailey.

"Excuse me?" I tried to get his attention.

Turning towards me, he raised the fur over one of his eyes. "Yes?"

"Uh…I-"

Just then Shepard walked in, looking annoyed at the complications her death and revival caused in her day-to-day-life, but Bailey jumped right in. "No worries, Commander. I'll just press this one button and save the both of us a huge load of unnecessary paperwork." He then pressed said button on his console and smiled at her. "Whoops."

Shepard smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks a lot. And good luck to you." The last part was directed at me and I nodded at her.

"So, now. How can I help you?" Bailey asked me once we were alone again.

"Apparently, there was a case…a few years back. A niece of a politician just disappearing or something?"

"I assume you are talking about the Vitridonis case? Because all the other nieces turned up a couple days later after spending the weekend in the bed of some stranger."

I chuckled weakly at that as it just sounded like what I did during most of my free time. "Yeah, the Vitridonis case…that's, uh…you see, my name's Tulana Vitridonis." My heart thumbed wildly beneath my chest and its platings and my mandibles were painfully tight against my jaw.

"Bailey I'd me for a moment before typing quickly on his console, swiping pages this and that way, before he stopped at one and his eyes quickly scanned over it. He then leaned back in his chair and, with a noisy _whoosh_ , let out a deep breath. "Well, fuck me sideways. Traxis!" He yelled loudly and a young Turian in C-Sec uniform rushed at his desk.

"Sir?"

"Call the Council's office and tell them that Councilor Sparatus is needed here and that this is about a very personal matter for him. _Now_." The young Turian threw me a curious glance before running back to his own desk as I just stood there in shock. Bailey crossed his arms, his eyes on me. "Time to meet your uncle kid."

* * *

I was sitting in an interrogation room offered by Bailey for privacy. He promised that all and any recording devices were turned off, something I immediately believed. Turning a Councilor's ire towards them was not what C-Sec would want, that was obvious; especially not when he was about to be reunited with his niece.

Hah, yeah. That.

So, apparently I- an assassin/murderess/serial killer/someone who earned exorbitant amounts of money to kill people- was the long lost niece of the Citadel's Turian Counciler. Who'd have thought.

I obviously didn't. When someone tells you that maybe _you_ could be the vanished niece of a Citadel politician- a place filled to the _brink_ with politicians of all and _any_ kinds- you don't immediately think 'oh, then it's probably the one farthest at the top'.

What was I supposed to do with this new revelation? My heart- it yearned for this. I didn't know why it did, because I had no memories or anything for this body beyond the past three years. Sparatus and whoever else were not even really my family; they were the family of Tulana Vitridonis before _I became her._ But wasn't that just it? _I became her_ and more than just physically. I became a Turian more and more with every day as my humanity was slowly but surely chipped away. I didn't even really know anymore how much of my personality was really _me_? Everything just blurred beyond recognition and I just became a Turian, I lived like a Turian, thought and fought like one, ate and drank like one. Was there really a part of former me left in this body? Sure, I knew that a former me existed and I knew what the future for this world held; I knew everything what happened in this world because former me played through it in a game but…that was just an action with the knowledge of it stored and saved.

There was nothing about that knowledge indicating about _me_.

My index talon scratched nervously at the table. There were scary thoughts in my head and the direction they were taking me were very final.

It was time to decide if I really wanted to hold on to the last threads of something that was already lost or if I just should embrace _Turian me_ , _Tulana me_. If I was totally honest…I loved being a Turian. It came with difficulties and I had to do bad things but ultimately, I loved it. I loved the body, the drinks, the food. I loved the mentality; or at least most of it. I loved the language. I loved what being a female Turian came with. I loved the males and the sex.

Aside from having been barefaced, I had yet to see a downside. Maybe…just maybe, this was what I was supposed to be, or even destined to be. A Turian female. An apex predator. Tulana Vitridonis. Maybe one day I'd find out why this happened to former me but for now…for now I felt lighter, both in heart and head as I found a new and deeper acceptance of this situation. I enjoyed its perks, yes, but fully embracing it, the good and the bad? No, I skimped over that part, but not anymore.

It was time for me to become one with my new self once and for all.

I nodded at myself, my mandibles relaxing a bit as I stared at the gouge my talon had scratched onto the interrogation table and sighed. I wondered what my uncle would think, though. Obviously, my occupation was not something I would reveal. That simply was not an option, as I could possibly ruin his career with that but also endanger Metso, which was something I simply could not do. He helped me too much and as selfish as I was, I was not someone who forgot debts like this.

My heart nearly stopped and a small shriek escaped my throat as the door to the interrogation room was opened forcefully and the Turian Councilor- _my uncle_ \- stared at me.

" _Tulana…_ " His voice was barely above a whisper as he rushed at me and pulled me out of the chair into a fierce hug. "We thought you were dead, we all thought you were lost to us _forever_!" His voice was actually rough and he was so much taller than me, I could barely see beyond his shoulder as Bailey discreetly closed the door again, giving us privacy. The hope for violent flashbacks that would give me back my memories of my family as soon as I laid eyes on my uncle were dashed as there was still nothing. Maybe I'd get them slowly now, maybe not. All that I knew for certain was the nuzzling I received to my cheek and that I felt loved and like a youngling and that it was choking me up. I didn't know why, but I knew it was happening and I just leaned into it because I felt like my heart was going to be squeezed and crushed if I didn't.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered and I didn't know why I apologized as it was highly unlikely that whatever happened to me was something that was within my control but I just did.

My uncle just held me tighter and finally I remembered that I had arms too and awkwardly put them around him, hugging him back.

After what felt like an eternity, we let go of each other and he sat down on a chair that was put close to mine before I was left alone and I sat down on the one I was waiting on.

"I…I don't remember anything…" My voice was soft and my talon began working on the gauge on the table again.

"Right now it doesn't matter." He gripped my shoulders and stared in my eyes. "All that matters is that you are alive, Tulana. Everything else is of secondary importance." A weak nod was all I managed, so he continued. "With time, your memories will come back. Until then, know that you have a family, that we all love you deeply and missed you terribly. You are not alone anymore."

That did sound good.

He then frowned and inspected my face closer and I knew what was coming.

"Those aren't your markings."

It was a statement of fact, not a question. "I can't tell you who gave it to me…I can't betray their trust and it would endanger your career…" He started to growl and I leaned forward, grabbing his hand. "Please uncle, don't force me to tell you this!" I begged and it was earnest and honest. "I just…woke up, lost, confused, without any memories of who I even was! Someone…whoever was responsible for whatever happened to me, they took away my original markings…I was bare and scared…I was offered a place for barefaces and well…I had no better solution. I took what I was offered. I can't tell you any more than this, please."

He squeezed my hand tightly in his but it didn't hurt. A heavy sigh escaped his mouth and he relaxed, thank the Spirits. "Fine. I won't pressure you. But one day you will tell me."

I wasn't sure if I actually would, but if it pacified him for the moment I would tell him what he wanted to hear. "Okay. That's fair, I suppose."

We were silent for a few moments but our hands remained locked, his eyes firmly on me as if he wanted to make sure that I didn't vanish again. After a while, I spoke up again, something that's been on my mind a lot but just now did I find the strength, confidence and acceptance in my new self to ask that question. "Do I have…do I have parents?" My voice was almost inaudible and I looked away at the pained expression on his face but it seemed it was for a different reason than I initially thought.

"You do, _koki._ Your mother is my sister. You look just like her."

 _Koki_. A very sweet fruit on Palaven. The first time someone used a pet name on me. "Do you have pictures?" I asked, eager to see my family and happy at the pet name.

Smiling at me, he got up from his chair and pushed it next to me. "We can do one better." He then activated his omni-tool and pushed several buttons, scrolled down a list and stopped at the word sister before pressing it.

He was calling my mother and I was both terrified and excited. My hand sought out his free one again and I clutched it in nervousness. For some reason it felt natural to seek out comfort in my uncle. Even as he was known to be hard on humans- especially Shepard- he had shown me understanding and tenderness. He made me feel loved immediately and I felt comfortable around him.

Soon, the screen on his omni-tool flickered to life and a face identical to mine, aside from the wear and tear of time and grief, looked back.

"Tetis? Not that I'm not happy to chat, but why are you calling today?"

"I wouldn't have, but…special circumstances came up." He then nudged me and I cautiously slid closer to him so my face could be scanned by the tool.

A gasp left my mother's mouth as she stumbled back and sat down heavily on a chair. "Who…?" She couldn't even ask the full question and my mandibles worried themselves against my jaw.

"It's Tulana. She has finally returned to us, Vari." My uncle whispered and the hand I sought out for comfort and strength when he started the call tightened around me.

My mother just stared at me and her mandibles trembled before she let out a sob and another and another and her entire body just shook as she started to cry and I didn't know what to do.

"Mother?" I tried but she only cried harder and I felt my own eyes to tear up and mandibles to tremble and it got only worse when I heard the clicking of bare talons on the floor and a female youngling, no older than thirteen appeared on screen, all long limbs and lanky figure.

"Mother, what's going on? Why are you crying?"

"Your sister…" She pointed with a shaky talon at the screen. "My young…"

The young female turned quickly towards the screen and slid in close, staring at me with wide eyes and mandibles. She looked so adorable.

"Hi." I greeted her with a shaky smile.

"Lana? Spirits, is it really you?"

I just nodded, not trusting my voice and my heart both soared and ached. It soared for the mother, sister and uncle I had. A father, I didn't know but they would tell me.

It ached because I only had my uncle close to me and I wanted to squeeze that sweet, sweet female on the other end of the screen.

She was slowly pushed aside as my mother had calmed down and made room for herself next to my little sister. "My sweet, sweet young..."

"What's with your markings?"

Ah, younglings. Never had any tact.

"She has amnesia, Sitana, Vareen." Since uncle called my mother Vari earlier, I assumed that her name was Vareen and my sister's was Sitana. "She woke up without any memory and knowledge about who she was and barefaced. She was taken in by other Turians and took their marking." He looked at me and I nodded in confirmation. "I promised not to press any further because she doesn't want to betray their trust."

I looked uncomfortable at my mother's stares but my sister just thought it exciting. "Are you a mercenary?" She asked me…very directly.

I squirmed in my seat at my mother's gaze and just wilted, a little bit. "Sort of…"

"That's so cool!"

"Sitana!" Mother scolded her, causing the little one to pout, before turning to me. "Don't worry, Tulana. Once you are home again, you will get your proper markings back. No matter what you did to survive, I am proud of you and I love you, as does your father and sister and uncle." She then seemed to remember something else. "Do you remember us? Anything about us? Your uncle said…"

"No…" When my mother's mandibles drooped in immediate sadness. "I…I don't remember anything. It's more like…feelings that I get from you but I wouldn't have even known your names if you hadn't used them…I'm sorry…" I sank a little in my seat. My confidence, cockiness, even arrogance felt so far away in the presence of these people. I felt unsure, small, insecure.

"It's okay, _koki_. It isn't your fault. Whatever happened to you…we are all just so happy that you are alive." Mother smiled reassuringly. "When are you returning to Palaven?"

This I really dreaded. "I can't yet…"

"What do you mean?!"

"I…I have joined with some people to help them out on an important mission…they are not really good people but there is a Salarian and another Turian part of the crew. The human hero of the Citadel, Shepard, is also part of this."

"You are working with Shepard? The other Turian is Vakarian then, I assume?"

"Yes, uncle."

"I don't care!" My mother exclaimed through the screen, even as Sitana looked way too excited about what I just explained. "And wasn't this Shepard female supposed to be dead?"

"Well, technically, but those people spent a lot of money to revive her…mother, I understand that you want me back home and I want to, I swear, but I really need to do this. I can't just leave them. I promise, I will call you every single day. I promise."

"Just…be careful." She said stiffly and I could see that she hated it so much but her Turian pride and honor understood why I couldn't leave. This was bigger than me or her. "I love you, Lana. So much."

"Love you, too." I whispered and it just came out.

Mother than disappeared from the screen and I could hear her muffled cries from somewhere else in the room. Sitana gave mean apologetic look and a wave goodbye, before shutting off the screen, probably going to tend to our mother.

I sighed in tiredness and my uncle pulled me closer to him, giving me his shoulder to lean my head onto.

"Are these…people you talked about…Cerberus?"

"Yes, uncle." He just growled lowly in response. "Shepard is a good female, uncle. She hates them. They killed her whole team in Akuze and no matter how they woke her up…Shepard is still Shepard as far as I can tell. Garrus trusts her and I trust him."

"Be careful. You are an adult female now and I trust your judgement, even though I would have wished for you to return to Palaven. But duty always comes first."

"It does." I sighed, not really wanting to leave and face the harsh reality of the galaxy again. This family bubble was quite cozy. "I'll send all I can about this mission and everything I can concerning Cerberus. I'll record any missions we are on."

"You do that. But care about your safety first. We can't lose you again after we just got you back."

"I'll be careful, uncle." I closed my eyes and took in his smell. So new, so familiar, so comforting. I wondered if my mother's, sister's and father's smell would be similar. If all felt the same as me when they smelled someone from our family. Spirits, it felt nice to have a family, to have found a place, but damn, it was hard.

* * *

 **AN:** I didn't find anything about Sparatus' first name so I just used the reliable ole' fantasy name generator.


	6. Subject Zero

**AN:** Here is chapter 5. I am glad you guys liked that Sparatus reveal. And I am really happy that you enjoy this story. Thanks for all the regular reviewers and I hope even more people will start reviewing. Every opinion helps and constructive criticism is always welcome!

 **TheRangerBoy:** That was part of the idea, though I plan for even more uses than just that.

 **Guest-Questioner:** That one exactly.

 **Spiritstrike:** Told you it was going to be a surprise :P And I always kind of understood where Sparatus was coming from, though his and the rest of the Council's dismissal of the Reapers was utterly ridiculous.

 **ArchAngerl319:** Reach and flexibility is a classic, no doubt.

* * *

Getting to know my family was something I never really expected to happen when I was more or less thrown into this world. But things never happen the way you expect or even want them to happen. First, I found out my uncle was actually the Turian Citadel Councilor, Tetis Sparatus. Then I got to know my mother, who wept as all the grief and pain of having thought her eldest daughter dead for the past eight years were gone after she saw me for the first time since my disappearance again. Then I got to know my little sister, a wild little thing just at the brink of becoming a grown female at thirteen years, but still looking like a young with her long limbs and lanky figure.

It was overwhelming and tiring but so, so satisfying. I felt so much lighter, like a huge weight I never realized I was carrying was suddenly just lifted off me. Maybe this was what I really needed; people to actually care about and me accepting my Turian self fully with all it had to offer- family and the strings and ties they came with included.

It felt so good; _I_ felt so good, I couldn't help but be all wide mandibles in a happy smile when I paid all those credits to the cashier for the extravagant ingredients for Turian food, receiving a smile from the cashier in return, before I made my way back to the Normandy.

Once back on board I was greeted by a none too happy Miranda Lawson. "We have been waiting for over an hour for you to return. Everyone was already done with their business and we could be on our way long ago-"

"Stop your yapping already." I snapped at her, shouldering my way past the human biotic. "It was very personal business I had to tend to and Shepard was aware."

"As long as you work for us-"

"Stop right there." I growled, turning around again to face the Cerberus Operative. "I do not work for Cerberus. Cerberus pays me to work with and for Shepard. You and your people are inconvenient tag-alongs as far as I am concerned. Got it? Now leave me alone before you completely ruin my good mood."

I left Miranda to stew in her hurt pride as I took the elevator upstairs and entered the mess hall upon arrival, opening the large freezing box and, aside from four boxes, emptied my entire purchase in it, making sure to mark them as Turian food before doing so.

I ignored the curious looks I received from several of the Cerberus staff and grunts on deck as I looked at the human cooking utensils and felt lost, but this time I didn't pity myself for lost knowledge. I was Turian and I simply didn't know.

Turning towards the mess sergeant, I spoke to him for the first time. "Excuse me, but what do humans use from all these things to cook their meat?"

"Sure thing." He rummaged through the drawers for a bit before pulling out a larger and deeper of the metal things and handed it to me. "This one should do."

I examined it and nodded in approval. The rest of the cooking worked similar enough that I only needed help in activating the human designed stove they had on the Normandy.

"How do you cook if you don't mind me asking?"

I glanced at the mess sergeant and decided, since he was civil enough I could provide the same courtesy. "Since we cook most of our food whole-" I held up a _pitka_ , the lizard's from back in the day, "we use large bowls that can provide a lot of heat in a really short time so it can cook the blood and innards of the animal and not just the skin and meat. For additional flavor, which rarely is necessary, we use various herbs and vegetables and cook them with the animals." I explained while waiting for the animal the water to start cooking. It really took longer than Turian cooking bowls, which were made of a mix of natural minerals, which were obtained from caves on Palaven that had incredibly hot and constantly cooking water in it as the minerals kept the heat in and provided additional heat as they heated up too, and artificial metals.

"So you eating these things whole…with all the blood and guts?" One soldier asked, looking less than thrilled at the idea.

"We do. Our body has evolved to be able to digest bones and blood, raw meat too. We don't even need to cook; it simply tastes better that way." My mandibles widened in a slight smirk. "Our talons and teeth aren't just for show, you know? We _were_ apex predators a long time ago, when our ancestors were still less than self aware. Our eating habits haven't changed that much."

The water finally started to cook and I dropped one of the lizards into the human cooking bowl followed by a couple vegetables and herbs I found went very nicely with it when I was experimenting a bit and went on to the side dishes, which were just a few sweet fruits to balance out the taste of the _pitka_.

When I was satisfied with the color of the cooked lizard I fished it out with a human utensil, which proved to really be tricky, and threw the second one in.

As if he smelled it from the deck below, the elevator arrived at the crew deck and I heard a muttered "no way". Soon enough, I could smell Garrus' presence and turned around to greet him.

"Garrus, is something the matter?" I asked at his hungry and greedy look eyeing my cooking.

"Am I wrong when I assume that you are _not_ going to eat both?"

I laughed lightly at his begging tone before waving him over and handing him his plate. "You aren't wrong. I simply believed that it would be in everyone's best interest if the only two Turians on the team did not starve to death because all they had to eat were those disgusting…glob things."

We both sat down on a table next to the Cerberus soldiers eating their own food and I chuckled at Garrus' moans when he bit into his lizard. "Spirits, I haven't eaten this well in a long time."

"You are quite welcome, Archangel." I chuckled before biting a leg off.

Soon enough Shepard arrived and sat down on our table and once she saw what we were eating, she shivered slightly. "I don't think I'll ever get used to what you guys consider good eating."

"And here I was about to offer you a _chaloxii_ , Commander."

"Do I even want to know?" "You have _chaloxii_?!"

I chuckled to myself as I swallowed the tail of my lizard, before popping a fruit in my mouth. "What brings you here, Commander?"

"Right, yeah, I actually did have a reason. I wanted to ask how everything went with your uncle?"

I couldn't help the still unbelieving laugh that escaped me at that question. "Turns out my uncle is…Councilor Sparatus."

Garrus actually choked on a foot and I leaned over to pat him heavily on his back until he managed to get the small limb down.

Shepard just stared at me for a few moments, before she asked. "Come again?"

"It's crazy isn't it?" I mumbled but couldn't help the warm feeling in my stomach at the thought of my family; my uncle, my mother and especially my little sister who had just captured me immediately.

"Great…that guy hates me anyways…"

I chuckled at that. "He actually doesn't."

"What do you mean?" The Commander narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"I talked to him about it. What?" I asked as Shepard leaned backwards, arms crossed over her chest, eyes still narrowed. "Everyone knew that he had _some_ sort of problem with you, it's not like it was a heavily guarded secret. Anyways, I asked and he said that his biggest problem was that, despite what humanity offered the Citadel upon their arrival being impressive, your people were incredibly greedy. That, while being ambitious was not a bad trait, humanity was very stupid about it, antagonizing lots of races in their quest to rise to the top. That's why he was particularly tough on you, as you became humanity's mascot, so to speak."

"While I can understand where he is coming from, I still don't like it. It also doesn't explain his dismissive nature against anything Reaper-related."

"No one said you'd have to and that is just him being stubborn. I for one believe you; it's one of the reasons I joined you in this anyways. Oh and he also said that he actively despises this Udina male."

Shepard actually laughed at that. "Everyone does. And thanks, it really means a lot."

Nodding, before popping another sweet fruit in my mouth, I spoke again. "I also spoke to my mother and I seem to have a little sister. They were all…happy to see me."

"That's good to hear." Shepard patted me on a hand before getting up from the table. "I'll head up for my quarters if anyone needs me. And Tulana…treasure what you found today." She said with a smile before walking to the elevator, leaving me with a small frown on my face.

"She…grew up orphaned in the streets of some major earth city. Bad crowd, bad decisions. She got her shit together, joined the Alliance, found a family in her squad only to either see them eaten alive by Tresher Maws or see them melt right in front of her because of Tresher Maw acid."

"Spirits…" Shepard just had to have to most tragic backstory.

"I try to be there for her as much as I can, especially now. I can imagine how lonely she feels, surrounded by those responsible for Akuze…"

"You are a good friend, Garrus."

"I know."

He ducked from the fruit I threw at him.

* * *

I was sitting on my bed and my talon was hovering over the call button but I finally gathered my courage and pressed it. After a few moments of no one answering I was quick to give up but was stopped when a youngling's face appeared on screen.

"Hey kid." I grinned, not able to help myself when I saw her. For whatever reason, Sitana just captured my heart immediately and I wanted to protect her with all I had.

"Lana!" She seemed happy to see me which made me happy. "Father, Mother! Tulana called!"

I heard a lot of shuffling and movement when there soon were three heads squeezed on the screen and this just looked so dorky, I loved it.

"It really is you, Tulana…"

For the first time I saw my father and I could see from where Sitana had her dark grey hide, blue eyes and her mandibles. She looked a lot like our father whereas I was the picture perfect replica of our mother.

"It's…good to see you, father." I didn't really know what else to say as the tall and strong looking male just looked close to breaking down, his mate rubbing his back with a fond smile while his youngest clutched onto his hand.

"You have no idea just how much we miss you, child. We were…we were giving up and discussing burial ceremonies…"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. None of this is your fault. Whatever happened, whatever caused us such sorrow, we are only happy to see you alive. Nothing else matters."

"Are you alright?" Mother finally asked.

"Did you already have a dangerous mission? Can you tell me about it?" Sitana was jumping up and down in excitement as father was placing a hand on her head to stop her, but he smiled all the same.

"I'm good, mother, don't worry. The food they had for Turians was horrible so I cooked myself and Garrus some _pitka_ with _guxili_. Now we are on our way for another recruit."

"Who is Garrus?" Father asked and there was just a hint of a low grown audible and I had a feeling he was thinking about his fully grown female daughter in the presence of a virile male and it was sweet.

"He is the only other Turian here. Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec officer. Uncle Tetis knows him."

"Hm."

"Don't worry, father. I am not going to mate with him anytime soon."

Sitana was openly laughing at that and mother couldn't help the giggles at the uncomfortable look on father's face.

"I wish I could be there with all of you." I finally stated and I honestly felt that way. "But duty comes first."

"It does." Father nodded somberly. "And I am proud of you, more than you can imagine. But be careful. We only have gotten you back, we wouldn't be able to live with losing you again."

Mother just whimpered at that thought and held on to her mate.

"I will, don't worry. And Sitana…if you ever want to just chat, call me anytime. If I don't pick up, I'll just call you back. I'd…really love to get to know my little sister." I told her shyly and felt like _I_ was the little sister.

"I'd love that! Can I use the code on the console?"

"Yes, use that."

"Now you can tell me all about your missions and gunfights!"

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

* * *

We arrived at the Purgatory to buy Jack out of her cryo prison. Shepard left Jacob and Zaeed back on the ship and Mordin was busy in his lab anyways, so it was just me, Garrus and Miranda who accompanied her.

I didn't even bother commenting on Miranda's attire. If her barriers failed at some point, which they certainly would, she'd probably bleed to her senses after receiving a shot to the gut.

We entered the prison and were greeted by some guard wanting to release us of our weapons, which we obviously didn't want to do, causing a couple tense moments between us and the Blue Suns.

Kuril then appeared dramatically and I couldn't help the low purr in my throat at that impressive fringe of his. Add to that the bad male thing he had going and I couldn't help but feel highly attracted to him. Shame that we had to kill him.

Garrus suddenly looked left and right before his look settled on me and I kept my eyes firmly on Kuril, ignoring the ex C-Sec until he spoke up. "Seriously?" He muttered, sounding utterly incredulous.

"I can't help it! Just look at his fringe!" I hissed at him, annoyed that my body betrayed my arousal, even as it was just barely enough that Garrus could only smell it because he was right next to me.

At that comment, Garrus paid more attention to Kuril and then just grunted dismissively. "Mine is longer."

I held back my chuckle, which only got harder when I remembered that my suit cam was running and my uncle would see this, as a Guard led us around the prison and past a prisoner who got beaten up. "In there." He pointed to a room before leaving us alone.

We walked there and I stopped. "This doesn't feel right." I muttered, as I already knew that it didn't feel right because it _wasn't_ right.

Garrus nodded, agreeing with me. "I know…"

"Isn't this Jack supposed to be a highly unstable? Why lead us to some random cell with-"

" _Commander Shepard_ ," Kuril's voice came through the speakers. " _I strongly urge you to enter the room you were shown and the cell in the back. Unfortunately for you, you are so much more worth to me as a prisoner than you are as a customer. Now please, do as you are told or it will have to become ugly; something neither you or I want."_

"Sorry, buddy." Shepard answered, her pistol in her hand. "I hate to disappoint, but that _not_ gonna happen."

Barely a couple moments later we were attacked by several of the Blue Sun mercs, but they were nothing more than cannon fodder as there attack was highly uncoordinated. We walked for a bit without being attacked until we reached a room with a huge cryo cell in the middle of it.

"Now that looks like something where you put away a highly unstable biotic." I quipped before working on the console after killing the guy standing guard there.

A few moments later Jack was released and with a mighty yell after waking up she biotically catapulted her out of her prison and destroyed two YMIR-Mechs like they were nothing.

"That's…Jack?" Shepard asked weakly before jumping down and following the trail of destruction. Miranda and I quickly followed, the former with her biotics floating her down and I with my back-thrusters slowing down my fall. I looked up at Garrus who carefully climbed down behind us before landing on his powerful legs. "Not fair at all…" He muttered grumpily while I just laughed before we followed the two humans.

We soon reached a large hall were an all out battle between guards and prisoners was going on and it was hard to pass by without getting in crossfire, which was dangerous even with active barriers and shields.

"Shepard, can you lift me up there?" I asked the Commander, who nodded and floated me up with her biotics onto high ledge where I crouched down and made use of what little room I had as I holstered my pistol and took my sniper rifle. The trio below saw my plan and I soon started taking down the prisoners first, as they were the easiest targets while Garrus overloaded the shields of any Sun grunts he could, giving Shepard and Miranda the opportunity to effectively use their biotics on them.

We proceeded quickly this way and soon enough we were halfway through our opponents here when I spotted a missile from an YMIR-Mech rushing towards me, yelping as I quickly jumped down, my thrusters once more cushioning my fall. I rolled out of the way of the hail of projectiles the Mech rained upon me and ducked behind a cover, out of breath. My team quickly caught onto my troubles and Garrus quickly disabled the Mechs shields as Miranda and Shepard both crushed it with warps.

I nodded my thanks at them and we continued out of the hall, continuing to follow the destruction Jack had left in her wake.

We dashed through another hallway and into another hall, were we quickly ducked out of the way of missiles fired from more Mechs at our direction. This time there were no prisoners to deal with, only a few Suns and their Mechs. It was hard to use a rifle when you had to duck immediately as soon as you peaked your head over the cover.

After a few times the Mechs didn't have any missiles left however, giving us the opportunity to deal some damage of our own. I quickly blew the head of one of the Suns off and Garrus did the same with the other.

"My aim was better. Right between the eyes." I joked with him.

Garrus grunted at that. "No one said I actually aimed between the eyes. I wanted to shoot through an eye, so that's what I did."

He had a point but I wouldn't admit that.

After the Suns were taken out the rest got fairly easy. Disable the Mechs shields and warp them to death.

Kuril himself was not that big of a deal. He wasn't really a great shot with his rifle and was way too cocky for a common gang member, even if he was tasked with handling the prison. The Mechs were what kept everyone in line, not his presence or talent with guns and rifles.

It was kind of disappointing.

"Not so impressive after all, was he?" Garrus smirked at me.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You two talk way too much in gunfights!" Miranda growled at us, clutching a bleeding arm.

There was the I-told-you-so-moment I was waiting for. "If you had proper armor then you wouldn't bleed. Don't let your anger at yourself out on us." _So satisfying_.

Miranda just glared at me, but it didn't really feel intimidating when humans did it, not even when they were biotics.

Soon enough we reached an angrily pacing Jack who stopped in her tracks and activated her biotics as soon as she spotted us. Shepard held up her hands, indicating that was unarmed, though her biotics were still a weapon; not that Jack knew.

"I am no a Cerberus member. I don't like them anymore than you do but I agreed to work with them for a common goal: protecting human colonies and finding out why the Collectors abduct them down to the last human living there. We need the best for that and you are one of the best. If you agree I will provide you with anything I dug up on Cerberus and whatever else you want on them." Shepard finished and ignored Miranda's glare.

"You sound like a pussy but you make good points. Still, why should I trust you?"

"Because we have the only way out of a soon-to-be-exploding station floating in the middle of space." I answered in the most deadpan way I could muster.

"Hah. There's someone who knows how to sell shit choices. Fine. I'm in. But I want everything on Cerberus and I mean everything."

"Then everything is what you will get." Shepard held out a hand which Jack reluctantly shook.

After the successful recruitment of Jack we quickly made our way back to our ship. On the way, I asked a question which had been bugging me since the conversation between Shepard and Jack.

"Jack, you said Shepard sounded like a 'pussy'. It didn't translate and I looked it up but all I found was that it was another word for some earth pet animal. Why did you say that Shepard sounded like a 'cat'?"

Jack just laughed at me, confusing me even more.

* * *

After cleaning my weapons and sending the mission reports and records to my uncle in secret, I finally went to shower.

My toiletries in my small bag, I entered the showers and quickly entered a stall. It simply felt absolutely amazing to wash off the grime of a hard battle and the hot water on my hide was just so soothing.

To be honest, it was one of my absolutely favorite things to do. Top three probably.

I stepped under the steaming water and sighed in contentment. Just standing there with closed eyes and the hot water running down my hide, I almost didn't hear the clicking of talons on the floor and my mandibles flared in a grin.

 _Maybe…_

I turned around and saw Garrus staring at my body and I simply presented myself at him. "Like what you see?" I looked down and, as he was already naked, saw something start to peek out from its protection, which pleased me immensely. "I believe you do."

Needing no further encouragement, I simply turned around, bent over and braced myself against the shower wall, presenting myself to the male.

He, of course, didn't say no and just went to work, his talons digging into my hips and his shaft pulsating against my arousal.

"I wanted to do this for a while now." He admitted and I was actually surprised.

Gasping as he entered me with a thrust and started to pound into me, taking my breath away, I barely managed to voice my question. "You-ah!-did?"

He just grunted and kept pumping away, my moans growing louder. Suddenly pulling out, he grasped me and turned me around, moving his hands under my thighs and pulling me up.

I wasted no time wrapping myself around him, legs around his hips and arms around his neck. He quickly found my wet core again and started to pump into me, his member finding all the right spots and I quickly began to see stars.

"You are strong and have gorgeous hips." My mandibles fluttered at the compliments and I gasped in surprise when he grasped my legs and hooked them over his shoulders, really bending me but the penetration was absolutely amazing this way. "And you are flexible."

I actually laughed at that and moaned even more. Spirits, yes, he did have reach as he reached placed even I didn't know I had.

I came, hard, on him and he rode me through it with every thrust, amplifying the pleasure I was feeling and I couldn't tell how soon the second one rushed through me but it was the moment I felt him release himself inside of me.

We slid down and I rolled off him, laughing half deliriously. "Spirits, I think I can't feel my legs."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot from females."

I slapped him, hard. This male was way too cocky for his own good.


	7. Doubts

**AN:** Hi guys, long time no write. There of course was university on which I had to focus first and foremost, which slowed down my writing considerably. That didn't mean that I was completely idle though. I actually was working on all of my stories simultaneously BUT…Windows 10 crashed on me. Nothing but a completely new installation of Win10 worked in the end which meant that everything was gone…my pictures, games, any and all documents…including six in-progress chapters with a total of around 20k words between them. You can understand how frustrated I was about that since I didn't save anything in Clouds so I had to start from scratch. I am just starting to regain some sort of motivation, which resulted from a lot of boredom, but hey, better than nothing I suppose.

I also have yet to clean up some chapters, including the previous one which starts with "Here is chapter 5" when you are actually reading chapter 6. Bare with me people.

I hope you'll enjoy this one. Don't forget to leave reviews!

 **Spiritstrike:** Yes, you can say that, it makes me happy since I take pride in my sex scenes!

 **JimmyHall24:** Thanks for taking the time to review every chapter!

 **Seabo76:** Don't worry, there's gonna be calibrations. And thank you, I am glad people have taken so well on Sparatus being Tulana's uncle!

* * *

Shepard was kind enough to give me a rest for the next recruitment. It was a nice change of pace and I used the time to do some maintenance on my weapons and armor. It was something to do and keep myself busy with while the others were outside and shooting Krogans and mercs and stuff.

I was cleaning the muzzle of my rifle when I caught the smell of someone else with me in the armory but there was no one to be seen. Wrecking my brain what that could be about I finally remembered something from the game and my mandibles flared slightly with realization.

"It is rude to spy on people." I said before the air in front of me fizzled and Kasumi Goto, infamous thief, made her appearance.

"Never thought I'd ever see the Black Death up close and live." She quipped.

I chuckled at that. "Never thought the first time I'd see Kasumi Goto would not be through the scope of my rifle." We both grinned at each other, our respect for each other's successes in our respective professions obvious. "So, what brings you into the armory aside from snooping on me?"

"Oh, nothing much other than boredom. There's really not much to do here other than spying on people when you are not out in the field." The human thief shrugged before hopping onto an ammunition box. "So, you and Garrus." Kasumi leaned slightly forward, her chin resting on her hand as her elbow rested on one of her crossed legs.

"He is a great romp, if that's what you are asking."

"I was angling more towards the romantic aspect of this, but still, thanks for the information." Kasumi giggled.

A relationship with Garrus? I honestly didn't think farther than being friends with him and him fucking me when I needed to be fucked or he needs to fuck. "I don't know." I admitted. "He's a good friend, as far as I can tell so far. I mean I don't know him all that well yet."

"But you slept with him already. I mean, you weren't exactly silent." Kasumi commented.

I couldn't help that laugh escaping me as I remembered that shower together with Garrus. "You would be loud too if you would receive a pounding like that. But yes, Turian's are more casual when it comes to mating. Sure, we get possessive when it comes to our mates and males from our families become protective when it comes to the younger females but generally…if we need to mate we mate and don't make a big deal out of it. To be honest, though, I'm probably a bit more promiscuous than your average female Turian." I shrugged. It didn't bother me to talk about my sexuality. I had fun when and how I wanted and I wouldn't let other people's opinions ruin that fun for me.

"So, you don't think about Garrus as more than friends with benefits?"

"No, not really. Maybe at some point, who knows?" He was sexy after all and a damn loyal friend. "But for now I enjoy my freedom of not being mated to a single male and besides, none of us know if we will even get out of this alive. It would make no sense to tie yourself to someone in a situation like this, don't you think?"

"Makes sense I suppose…I was hoping for more drama though…" Kasumi looked kind of disappointed. Poor female, fishing for juicy gossip in the form of blossoming romances and having to leave empty handed…or so I thought.

"So how big is Garrus…you know…down there?" Kasumi asked me with a big grin.

My mandibles flared in a satisfied smirk when I thought about it.

* * *

"Jack."

The furless human female looked up at me and grunted at me in response.

"Mind if I take a very private call here? You pretty much found the only real blind spot EDI has, I think."

Eyeing me for a few moments, she finally nodded and moved a few of the datapads strewn across the stairs and the floor.

I nodded in thanks before picking a spot to sit under the stairs and busying myself with my omni-tool. This was a call I really dreaded but it was about time I got this over with. I owed him that much.

I waited anxiously for him to pick up and, a mere moments later, those black markings identical to mine stared back at me.

"Hi Metso."

"Tulana." His voice was hard and his mandibles tight against his jaw.

"I need to apologize to you. I know you didn't want me to do this…at least I was told as much."

"I am sure you can understand how sending off one of your best employees to a…what did they call it…'suicide mission'…is bad for business."

"Believe me, I understand you. I really do, but I need to do this. Besides, they'll pay me a shit-ton of money for this and I am going to send half of it to you."

"I don't give a damn about the money!" Metso barked at me, making me flinch.

"I know, I know, I know!" I sighed, trying to figure out a way to placate him. "I really don't know what else to say…"

"There honestly isn't much else to say."

This definitely was going well so far.

"Oh…before I forget…I….I, uh…I found my family."

There were a few moments of silence before Metso spoke again. "They want to take you back in? Markings and all?"

"Yes…apparently I vanished when I wanted to visit an uncle on the Citadel…so I wasn't banished or punished or anything. Just…abducted I suppose."

"I see…I won't begrudge you if you want to be part of the Hierarchy again. I would if I could."

"Thanks, Metso. I mean it. I won't betray you and if you ever need me you can always contact me. I count you as a friend…just so you know." I really did. He was hard on me during my training but, ulterior motives and all, he was still the first to take me in, give me a place and the means to survive this world. It meant more to me than he could imagine.

"I…thank you."

I gave him a small smile and was about to cut off the connection when he called out again.

"If you want…I can look into your abduction. I may not have the Shadow Broker's connections and means but maybe I can still dig some things up."

I was speechless for a few moments but readily agreed. "That would be great!"

"Alright then. Who is your uncle, by the way?"

"Councilor Sparatus." I couldn't help but grin at his expression and openly laughed as he shook his head before cutting the connection off.

"That went better than I expected." I muttered to myself before glancing at Jack. "I hope I can count on your discretion. There's a reason I didn't ask you to leave after all and that is because I don't expect you to be much of a gossip."

"Don't worry."

I nodded in thanks and, on a whim, decided to sit down next to her, causing the fur above her eyes to rise. Leaning slightly towards her, I lowered my voice. "I'll make you an offer: anything juicy you find on Cerberus you can give to me and I can send it to someone non-human very high up in the politics ladder. Totally up to you, though."

Jack glanced at me for a couple moments before returning her attention back to the datapads. "I'll think about it."

* * *

"So, I heard Shepard took on a pure-bred Krogan."

"I didn't take on Grunt. I just tried to make a point to him, which obviously was successful as he isn't rampaging through our ship and eating us."

"Yeah, I heard they had a headbutting contest and that Shepard gave Grunt a concussion."

"Wha-?! That's complete and utter bullshit!"

I just laughed with Garrus at Shepard's attempt to stop our ridiculous rumors. That had been going on for a couple days now as we made our way to Horizon as apparently the Collector's were sighted en-route towards the colony.

That laughter stopped though as we heard Joker's voice through the speakers. "Approaching Horizon, Commander. ETA 15 minutes."

"Alright then. You heard Joker, so everyone gear up." Shepard told everyone present before sending the order to the rest via her omni-tool. This would be our first real encounter with the Collectors so Shepard would not leave anyone from her squad on the ship aside from Mordin.

Soon enough our shuttle pilot dropped us all off on the surface and I was kind of glad as it was kind of stuffy.

Looking around, it was a pretty gruesome sight. The air was abuzz with the seekers swarming through the colony and looking for more humans to capture.

I took a step towards one of those frozen humans, touching the stasis field around them, though it didn't really have any give and was more like a solid surface around them. Then I realized the female's eyes seeking mine. "I think they are awake and aware of what's happening around them."

"Damn…" Was Garrus' response to that revelation but honestly, what could you really say there?

"Let's move out, people!" Shepard barked at us, which we then did.

The Colony itself showed little to no sign of any battle and was really, really silent which made it all very eery but that soon changed when we were ambushed by the first drones, though our group made quick work of them. We continued on without much happening until we heard some screeching sound, followed by humanoid figures brainlessly rushing at us, only to be quickly mowed down by our gunfire. Shepard didn't waste any time to head toward the bodies to examine them, moving their bodies with her foot.

"Husks." She turned towards our group, her face invisible through the helmet but her tone and posture was dead serious. "Those are husks. The Geth used spikes to make them out of humans…dragon's teeth we started to dub them. Now the Collectors have those too? I think not. This has to be connected to the Reapers."

"Definitely." Garrus agreed with the Commander. "The Geth worked for…under…with Reapers anyways. It would make sense that the Collectors fit in there somehow."

"Let's keep moving." Shepard ordered and move we did but not very far.

In front of a large building there were more than just drones.

"What the hell is that?!" Shepard asked while sending a warp at the large husk-like unit as it sent a shockwave right back at Shepard, making her roll away. I knew what it was, of course, but I still made a show of using my rifle's scope to take a closer look at it, before firing at it's head. "It kind of looks like…more than one husk glued together…really messily."

"That's sick!" Shepard shouted as she sent another warp at the thing, causing a biotic explosion which threw around a few drones around.

Then suddenly, a loud voice boomed through the battlefield. _"Assuming direct control."_ One of the larger Collectors suddenly writhed in pain as its exoskeleton started to crack and glow before it stopped and looked at us through its now glowing eyes. " _I am the harbinger of your destruction._ "

We then realized a slow moving attack of this Collector exploding right in front of our cover, exploding massively.

"What the fuck happened to that thing?!" Jack yelled before bombarding it with an avalanche of powerful biotic attacks, Shepard and Miranda quickly following suit as the rest of us emptied our clips in it.

Brute force seemed to be sufficient as it disintegrated in front of us.

"It seemed to be possessed." Miranda offered to which I readily agreed as it was correct. That Collector was our first encounter with the Reaper dubbing itself 'Harbinger'.

"It was weak." Grunt grinned into the round gaining a few weak chuckles.

"Possessed Collectors, Husks…" Shepard mumbled to herself, lost in thought for just a moment before motioning for us to move on.

After a quick chat with that anti-alliance guy we kept fighting through towards the AA guns to get them going and to blast that Collector ship to pieces. Maybe it would work, maybe not, but at least it might force them away as it did in the game.

Soon enough though there were screeches, charging Husks and the sound of particle rifles echoing in the air as a massive battle started while. Grunt was having the time of his short life as he laughed and charged into husks and Collectors; Jack, Shepard and Miranda created massive biotic explosions with their abilities; Jacob and Zaeed were emptying clip after clip of their assault rifles while Garrus and I were having a sniper contest. Kasumi was picking off Collector snipers with her cloaking ability, sneaking behind their lines and shooting them from point black range.

Soon enough the enemy's number started to dwindle when we suddenly heard another unnatural screech when a Collector construct suddenly swooped into the battlefield and shot a massive beam at Garrus and I, us both barely making it out of the way of that destruction.

"Oy, Cerberus! Where the fuck are our toys?!" Jack yelled at Miranda, who just ignored powerful biotic but her gritted teeth betrayed her annoyance.

"How much longer until this AA gun is ready to go?" I asked, while trying to find a weakness on that real life Praetorian.

"We are at 79%." EDI's artificial voice answered.

"Don't we have anything heavy?" Garrus asked after what seemed like us making barely a dent in the Praetorian's armor when Grunt just started to grin madly and removed a rocket launcher from his back holsters before starting to rapidly fire rocket after rocket at that beast.

Soon enough, there was a visible crack on its thick armor and, as Grunt reloaded his launcher, the rest of us aimed at the crack which finally seemed to do the trick as the thing screeched, aimlessly fired its beam before disintegrating into thin air.

Grunt, his launcher ready once more, looked up only to find nothing. "The battle's over already? Hmph."

"What's the state of the AA?" Shepard asked into her helmet-communicator.

EDI's voice gave us the immediate response. "Only one moment, Commander."

Then, finally, the gun came to life and aimed at the giant Collector ship. But, unfortunately, as in the game, all it did was force our enemies to retreat. The ship itself remained largely undamaged, making a rescue for the abducted civilians impossible.

Shepard's awkward reunion with Kaidan didn't make it better.

The male probably didn't really get the hint that the Commander didn't want him as her mate but well, it really was none of my business.

All in all, it was an okay result in the end. It could have gone better but we managed to force the Collectors to retreat and saved a large chunk of the colony's population.

And, I got a lot to send to my uncle. This ought to really get his attention.

* * *

Once we were back on the Normandy Shepard had her briefing with the Illusive Man while I made my way to the showers, though this time without Garrus nailing me against the wall. I wasn't even really in the mood to be honest as my mind wandered to the abduction victims of the Collectors. I knew what was going to happen to them and I knew how I knew. It was odd having this knowledge without knowing of your background before this universe but it was what it was and I was okay with it. I had a life, I had people here now so I was okay. That wasn't where my mind was wandering off to anyways. No, what occupied my mind was the fate the abducted humans was awaiting. They were going to be melted, they were going to be the life blood of a human Reaper prototype. It was gruesome to think about that; a living sentient person being reduced to a gooey mass of DNA so they could make an artificial thing come alive.

It was making me doubt my decision; it was making me wonder if we could even really win this in real life. I remembered in my life in another universe, when _this_ universe was still a game to me, that you won but it was the nature of a game like that. This was harsh reality here. So far we were lucky, yes, but a single bad judgement call, a single mistake and all was gone. There was no checkpoint from where you could restart, there was no autosave, there was no save _period_. Rockets to the face killed you here, a thick cloud of Red Sand would poison you, there was no miniature nuclear bomb you could one shot heavy enemy units with.

In the end I was no one special. Yes, I was a talented assassin but I was no selfless hero. I was a selfish Turian. I was, even if or when I would retake my place in the Hierarchy, a bad Turian. I would never make a good mate or even mother for someone. Maybe I was an okay sister but if my parents knew about the things I did and not just assassination-wise…

I groaned in frustration as I craned my neck so the steaming water splashed against my facial plating. One day maybe I would have new markings; my original markings. It was something I actually did look forward to, though in all honesty I wasn't sure if I should. Who knows if we even would survive this. Our goal was the center of our galaxy, close proximity to a massive black hole. This whole thing wasn't called a suicide mission for nothing.

Yeah, my uncaring attitude was kind of lacking right now. Maybe it was just that damn colony, but I knew I needed to get out of this funk.

I took some more moments under the shower to polish my platings and dress in my casuals so I could finally get to my 'room' and lie down on my 'bed'.

My finger hovered for a moment over my omni-tools screen as I read some of Sitana's messages, smiling at them. I then called my family's home, hoping to get the reassurance I needed from them. That's what family was there for after all, right? To pick you up when you felt down.

After what felt like a small eternity my call was finally being answered by my smiling father. "Tulana! Is everything alright, _koki_?"

"Yeah…kind of. I just feel…can I ask you something, father?" This was new, this was different. During my time in this universe I never felt the need to rely emotionally on anyone but myself but now…

"Of course. I am listening." Father now gave me all his attention in a perfectly Turian posture which made me smile a little.

"You served for our military, right?" He gave me a nod. "Have you ever had…doubts…about what you were doing? Not about the goal itself but maybe…I don't know…"

"What happened, Lana?" My father now looked concerned.

"Have you heard about the Reapers, father?"

"Those supposed sentient machines that Shepard female kept talking about? Yes, there has been talk in the military."

"Shepard firmly believes that they are real, father, and she is not one to make claims like that lightly. We had a…difficult mission earlier…and there were things Shepard believes were of Reaper origin. Changed humans…husks…Spirits, we fought Collectors and their… _experiments_ , father!" I hissed at him, my mandibles widening in agitation.

"Tulana…are you afraid of dying?"

I blinked at him for some time before finally realizing that yes…that was my fear. That difficult and hard mission, those fights with the Collectors and their creations- it all made me really realize that this was really life and death. Before, though, I didn't even really care that much but now…with family to love and to be loved back by…this time I had something to lose. "Don't get me wrong, please, but it was easier when I didn't even know I had all of you. I was just…me."

Father chuckled at that. "No offense taken. I understand you. Fear of death and fear of not seeing your loved ones again…it is normal. It is what makes us sentient, Lana; those emotions that connect us all, no matter if you are Turian, Asari or any other species. But you have to focus those emotions differently. Now, as far as I can tell, you let them hinder you. Let them drive you, instead! Use them to bolster your will to survive."

I listened intently and I had to admit what my father said made a lot of sense. Having that knowledge of what would become of the abducted humans did block my mentality in ways that made me weaker, that made me lose a lot of my bravado. But that wasn't me. I was the Black Death- or so Miranda told me- and I was strong. I would not let my fears of death and never seeing my family slow me down. No, I would do all I could to survive and see my family, see Sitana. I now had something to live for in this universe and I would not throw that away because people we couldn't save and whom I would never even know what they looked like would be turned into a single mass of DNA for a giant robot prototype. Tough luck for them.

"Thank you, father." I smiled at him. "I mean it…you really helped."

"That is good to hear. Now I have to go back outside and tend to our garden. Your mother nagged me the whole week about it and I better get back to it before she comes back."

"Then I better say goodbye. Thanks again. Say mother and Sitana I said hi."

"I will. We all love you, _koki_. Be careful."

Saying my own goodbyes, I ended up sleeping better than I thought I would.

* * *

I didn't know if I ever was a daddy's girl or not, but my one-on-one talk with father felt very natural, like something I did a lot of times. It was a good talk and father seemed like a male with a lot of wisdom in him. As vague as the description of my worries and thoughts were he knew what I was going through at the time and knew the things to say to get me out of it.

Of course I wasn't cured of my worries. That was impossible now with the family-thing constantly looming over me since I got to find out that I had one but that was okay. It just meant that I couldn't jump head-first into things anymore.

I had a long time living without real responsibilities and I made good use of and a lot of money during that time. Maybe now it was time to grow up…at least a bit.

"Good morning, people." Shepard walked into the kitchen and grabbed her own plate with something the mess sergeant cooked for the human part of the crew while I handed Garrus a plate with traditional Turian breakfast. It basically was nothing more than a couple cooked reptile eggs with a lot veggies.

The crew itself didn't feel yet like a tightly knit group but more like a bunch of mercs doing this whole thing for no other reason but the money…which pretty much was the gist of the mentality of everyone here.

"What's our next stop, Shepard?" Garrus asked his friend.

"Haestrom." Shepard answered. "Apparently Tali is there on a classified mission for the Fleet's Admiralty Board. She's next on our recruit's list."

"That's great!" Garrus exclaimed before looking at me. "Tali was part of our former crew. A Quarian with very impressive tech skills and a very talented hacker."

"Sounds impressive. You seem to have had quite the crew before this whole Cerberus thing." I commented, ignoring the sidelong glances some of the grunts threw me.

"It was. Not to say that what we have here now is any less impressive but I think the mindset was a different one back then…the, uh, bonding I suppose was easier and faster because we all had at least similar goals so the joining was voluntarily. Here, money is the incentive so…" Garrus tried to explain.

"Yeah…I suppose it does make a difference when you work for the same thing."

"I'm sure we'll get there." Shepard added after swallowing the last of her breakfast. "At the end of the day we all want to get out of this alive, so there's that common goal." She grinned and blinked only one of her eyes at us before leaving me alone again with Garrus as she made her way to Miranda's office.

I gave Garrus a puzzled look before finally voicing my question. "What was that eye thing she just did?"

"Ah, that. Yeah, she does that a lot. Supposedly it means that she is joking or only half-serious."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"You don't need to tell me that, I know. It's just one of those weird human-things."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Yes, ignoring the glares I was receiving from a bunch of Cerberus grunts was definitely the way to go.


	8. Distractions

**AN:** It's been too long, friends. Really sorry. But here I am with another chapter- albeit a rather short one, compared to other chapters. But, once things in the story start picking up again the size of the chapters will increase too. I still hope you enjoy this, though. And apologies if there are any typos or whatnot, it's past 2 AM in the middle of the week and I kinda am tired but wanted to get this up.

 **Lyra:** Nope. Tulana is a screamer, but not _that_ much of a screamer :P

 **MeraHunt:** Thanks!Spiritstrike has a similar story to mine with a Turian SI-OC. Check it out! It's called Talons Like Iron.

 **Seabo76:** Puppy dog eyes? I'm more of a cat person. *laughs evilly*

 **Death's Inevitable Kiss:** Glad to open your eyes :P

* * *

The ship was quiet as we were on our way to collect Tali. I myself was busy preparing my gear together with Garrus, who seemed to be in an oddly good mood.

"What's got you so chipper?"

He looked at with his mandibles slightly spread. "If I am completely honest, I am just looking forward to see our former group get at least partially back together."

"I can understand that, I suppose." We were silent for a bit before I spoke up again. "Why don't you tell me a bit about your former team?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know…just tell me about them?"

Humming for a bit, Garrus then began to speak about the former crew. I mean, sure, I kind of knew about everything in this universe and the crew but this was also a new perspective of sorts.

"Wrex was our muscle, so to speak, but that's what you expect from a Krogan battlemaster."

"You talking about the old times?" Shepard asked as she stepped into the armory just in time to hear Garrus talk about Wrex. "I still remember you being that kid C-Sec officer butting heads with his superiors. That was really cute."

I swallowed down my laughter at seeing Garrus' mandibles droop at that.

"I wasn't cute, Shepard. Maybe your little furry pet things are cute. I am apex predator. I am dangerous."

"Alright, tough guy. What furry pets are you talking about though?" Shepard wondered. "Puppies?"

Garrus tried to remember for a bit but shook his head. "I forgot what they are called…I saw them on the extranet this one time…"

"Kittens?"

"Yes! Really adorable furry little things those are."

Cocking my head, I tried to picture what Garrus was describing but his description was just so vague. Instead, I did the only thing there was to do and started up my omni-tool but just as I was about to search the extranet for those so-called kitten pets Metso called and I accepted without meaning to. "Damn it, Metso, bad time! Cerberus can listen in!" And with that I ended the call.

"Who was that?" Shepard raised one line of fur above her eyes at me, one of those weird human gestures.

"My, uh, former employer. No one I like to call with EDI in possible earshot. Gotta go."

Quickly leaving the armory, I made my way downstairs to Jack's hiding spot, nodding at her while calling Metso back. It only took a couple seconds and he was back visible on the screen. "Metso, if you want to have a chat send me a message and I can call you back but do not call me! Cerberus has an AI which can pop up almost anywhere on this ship."

"Fine by me. But I got something for you."

My omni-tool beeped and I saw an encrypted message sent to me by my former boss, my mandibles twitching in confusion after I opened it up. "What is this?" All I saw were a bunch of names, obscene amounts of money transferred over several accounts and stuff like that. All of it seemed illegal and everything but meant little to me.

"I did look into your case but there really was no trace for me to pick up, even with my considerable resources…so I did the only thing there was to do."

"You didn't contact the Shadow Broker. Please, Metso, don't tell me you paid the Shadow Broker." As grateful as I was for him to go to such lengths and to pay that amount of money as a favor for me, it really was too much.

"It's alright, Tulana. You signed a lifelong debt when you accepted my offer anyways," Metso smirked at me. "It was a one-time thing with the Broker anyways. One payment for one information. I trust the Broker's information but I double and triple checked anyways. The only amount of payment across any of the known star systems coming even close to a high-profile abduction such as yours was this and the way that payment was played out- over several faux accounts- makes it even more suspicious. Anyways, I think that's a good starting point for you to dig deeper."

What he said made sense and that actually scared me a bit. Who in their right mind would pay five billion credits to have the niece of Councilor Sparatus abducted? "Thank you, Metso. Really, thank you. You did way too much for me already."

"Don't worry about it. Just come back alive and when you do that don't forget about your promise to me."

I nodded at him before he ended our call.

"You alright?"

Looking up I saw Jack standing in front of me, kind of guarded and kind of unsure. My mandibles indicated a small smile as I moved over to give her room to sit next to me. "If you didn't remember some things but had the chance to find out, would you take it?"

"Definitely." She didn't even hesitate. "Trust me; not knowing isn't always better."

* * *

We arrived at Haestrom and Shepard wanted the entire team out; bar Mordin. It kind of made sense, considering there was an entire Geth armada waiting for us on the ground.

"Here's what we know, people," Shepard began briefing us in the- duh- briefing room. "Tali is down there doing some top-secret research for the Quarian fleet. The planet's magnetic and solar output is intense and it will fry our shields quickly if we spend too much time in its light, so stick to shadows. The planet's also swarmed with Geth. Arm yourselves accordingly. Let's go."

The entire group was heading to the armory and quietly getting their weapons and armor ready. I was busy with my rifle when I fumbled and dropped its barrel, something that hadn't happened to me in _years_.

"Tulana, are you okay?" I looked up from the floor as I picked the barrel up and saw Garrus, offering his hand with a concerned expression on his face.

I took his hand and nodded, squeezing his shoulder with a hand. "Yes, don't worry. I was just distracted for a second."

But I really wasn't okay; far from it, really. I couldn't get that amount of money out of my hand. If it really was related to me, just who would pay such a ridiculous number for my abduction? With which motive?

My stomach was knotting up every time I thought of that number and that was a _lot_. I hadn't told Shepard about it yet either and she hadn't asked me about my call with Metso, something I was perfectly fine with.

I simply was scared out of my wits. That amount of money…it wasn't your regular blackmail kind of money, it wasn't your Blue Suns or Eclipse or Bloodpack kind of money. Whoever paid that had to be insanely powerful…like top-tier politician powerful.

Or Cerberus powerful. Or a completely new player powerful.

It made me question if it was really a sensible thing to try and find out about my past.

I tried to relax, tried to concentrate on finishing my preparations before I packed up my gear and went back to my 'bedroom' to put on my armor.

Once I was done we arrived at our destination and were ready to take the shuttle down to the surface.

* * *

Before we knew it, we arrived on Haestrom and the first shield being fried could already be heard. We quickly made our way into a building to find some shadows. The first ones already started sweating, the immense heat from the sun slowly affecting us.

We quickly made our way into one of the ruins, protecting ourselves and our shields from the sun. There was not much to see at first, aside from the odd abandoned equipment. None of it was of much use to us so we made pretty quick process.

That is, until a Geth drop ship well…dropped Geth troops on us. They weren't too much of a hassle though, as we made quick work of them. I caught Garrus throwing a couple glances at me as I missed a lot of my shots but he kept quiet. As did I.

We quickly kept on moving through more ruins until we finally found a lead about the Quarians position. Ironically, it was a dead Quarian with a radio lying next to him.

Through it we could hear another Quarian, who I assumed could only be Kal'Reegar.

Shepard quickly chatted with him after we adjusted our own radio-frequencies to his.

Once we had an exact position we kept on moving until we reached another open space area but, of course, things never were easy. A Geth drop ship moved into our position and shot a pillar, effectively blocking our path.

Reegar gave us instructions about some explosives, which Kasumi went and grabbed in her stealth mode while the rest of the team took quick care of the Geth trying to slow us down.

Again, my shooting was off and again Garrus kept quiet.

After any Geth stragglers were taken care of Shepard planted the explosives and blew the pillar up, making it possible for us to proceed.

Once inside there was a communication console through which we could hear Tali, causing Shepard to immediately activate it. There was a bit of chatting going on between them but I didn't really listen. Garrus joined her and the rest of the team spread out in the building, checking out the ruins of Quarian architecture. I leaned against a closed window, my arms crossed and my mandibles tight against my jaw, my mind wandering off once more to what Metso revealed to me. I still couldn't decide what to do with that information, if I should really go through with trying to find out more.

If I actually did go through with it I probably would stir up a _xayek_ nest- which were dangerous insects with a deadly sting.

As my mind was far away I didn't even realize the metal window shutter things behind me rising and I also didn't register the screams directed at me. When I finally looked up and turned around it was too late though, as that giant plasma ball shot by the Geth colossus exploded right in front of me, annihilating my shield and burning through my armor as it threw me across the room.

I barely registered anything as my vision swam and quickly went black.

* * *

Opening my eyes had never been this hard. The moment light hit them I closed them again. I heard a very faint voice, seemingly from very far away, sounding frantic and I also started to register a faint beep. That beep started to speed up though, seemingly in tandem with my own heartbeat, which I also realized was speeding up.

There was a lot of movement around me and I again started to open my eyes, more carefully this time, giving them time to adjust. Slowly, very slowly, I saw a ton of Turian nurses and a human doctor bustling around my bed before I realized that my right hand was being held and when I looked to the side to see just who it was holding my hand my mandibles widened so quickly it almost hurt.

"Mother?" My voice came out as more of a croak than an actual voice, reminding me just how thirsty I was. She just cried and nuzzled my hand.

As I wanted to sit up I was also slowly and gently pushed back by one of the Turian nurses. "Please relax, Miss Vitridonis. You have had a lot of internal trauma and you are still wired to a lot of machines."

Looking around me, I realized that she was right so I tried to relax and gave him a thankful look when I felt the head portion of the bed slowly rise and a cup of water held against my mouth, which I greedily drank.

"Where am I?"

"You are in the Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Citadel, Miss. You've been out for about a week and, if I may be so blunt, damn lucky to be alive." The human doctor told me. "I don't know what armor you were wearing but surviving that point black an explosion caused by a Geth colossus plasma ball- _wow_. You ended up with more internal damage caused by the explosion's shockwave than external. Four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, a broken arm and leg. Good thing you had your helmet on. Your platings are fine, so no need for any transplants."

Wow.

"While you were in a medically induced coma to give your body the rest it needed, we've done some nerve testing and you should be perfectly fine to go in another week or so."

I gave him a nod and thanked him as I rested my head against the pillow. The doctors took some more notes before finally leaving. I then turned to my mother, her mandibles tight.

"You promised to be careful, _koki_."

"Sorry…" I looked at her sheepishly but was so happy to finally be able to see my mother right there in front of me. "Are father and Sitana here too?"

"Yes, they are. They'll be here too and your uncle too."

My mandibles fluttered in a weak smile, the knowledge of my entire family being here, being really together for the first time making my stomach knot up in the best possible ways.

"How did you find out about me being here anyways?"

"It was that human. Shepard. She went to your uncle and informed him and he called us." My mother answered, her voice low as if she relived that call from Uncle Tetis again. Which she probably did.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to worry any of you…"

"I know Tulana, I know…" My mother grasped my hand again when the door opened and the rest of my family entered.

I couldn't help the tears blurring my vision as they all stood there, as my sister hugged me, making me groan in pain, as my father and uncle looked like the picture perfect steadfast Turians, their mandibles betraying their emotions.

"How are you feeling?" My father asked me and I smiled at him.

"Fine…just a bit sore still."

"Were you really hit by a Geth Colossus?" Sitana asked as if it was the greatest thing ever, causing me to laugh out.

"Sitana! It's not funny, your sister got seriously hurt!" Our mother scolded her but I held up a placating hand.

"It's alright, mother. And yes, Sitana. That thing shot a plasma ball and I didn't pay attention…" And then I remembered it. "Oh. Where's my omni-tool?" I almost panicked before I spotted it on the night table next to my bed, quickly grabbing it.

"What is it?"

I looked at my uncle and then the rest of my family. "Mother, father, Sitana- I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you this. It could put all of you in danger and I won't risk that."

My mother's mandibles immediately tightened and then flared and I could see she was about to refuse but her brother put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust her."

A few moments passed and with a shaky nod, she got up. "Fine. But when all of this is over I demand you to explain everything to me, Tulana."

"I promise mother. And thank you."

I watched them as they were about to leave the room before I thought of something else. "Is anyone from my crew here maybe?"

"Actually, Vakarian is just outside."

My mandibles flared and my stomach tightened, two things I immediately ignored and pretended didn't happen. "Garrus? Really?"

"I don't like him," my father threw in. "I don't think he's a good mate for you."

"I- we never- what? Just call him in!"

Sitana just giggled before shooting a Turian smirk at me as she opened the door, causing me to groan in dread. "Vakarian! Your mate's calling for you!"

"Sitana! You brat!" I screamed after her but it was futile as the giggling young was pushed out of the room by our parents.

Garrus himself just mumbled something incoherent as he passed my family before sitting on the chair next to my uncle. "Your sister's something else…and I don't think your father likes me."

"Both of which are correct."

"Explains a lot of the glaring. How are you doing?"

"Good but sore…why aren't you with the crew?"

Leaning back against the chair, Garrus shrugged. "Since you would be out for a bit Shepard decided to take care of some private problems of some of the crew. Zaeed and Kasumi mainly. Jacob too I think. Once she is done they'll be back to pick us up. If you are not good to go until then they'll just take some shore leave until you are ready."

"Doesn't explain why you are here."

"There wouldn't have been much for me to do so I offered to keep you company. Wasn't really necessary in the end."

"Thank you anyways."

"I think there was something you wanted to explain to us, Tulana?"

I looked at my uncle sheepishly, having almost forgotten him with Garrus in the room, and I quickly nodded. "Yes, right. I, uh…I was kind of distracted by something that day."

"I figured as much and hoped you would at some point talk about it."

Giving Garrus an apologetic look, I powered my omni-tool up, logging in. I looked through several files until I found the encrypted one I was looking for. "A friend offered to look into what happened to me, Uncle Tetis. He paid the Shadow Broker an enormous amount of money for this and if there is one thing you can say about the Shadow Broker, it is that he is as reliable a source as you can find. My friend got this for his money." I showed them both the money transactions and continued to explain. "Apparently someone paid this amount of money just for my abduction. I…I am scared, to be honest. This amount of money just…to abduct _me_?"

"Tulana…you could have easily gone to Shepard with this…" Garrus sighed.

"But don't you understand? What if we keep digging and this ends up being too big?"

"Vakarian is right, Tulana."

"What?" "What?" Both Garrus and I looked at my uncle, shocked.

"I want you to be safe more than anything, Tulana. I wish you could just go to Palaven and live the life stolen from you. But I also see a strong, young female who doesn't shy away from responsibilities like the proper Turian she is. I want to know who took you from us, Tulana. I want them punished."

I looked at my uncle and he stared into my eyes with strength, determination but also with love, worry and anger. There was so much in that one look, he was telling me so much with that one, single look.

A sigh of defeat escaped me and I nodded. "I'll send Shepard a message to call me when she can…"

"Good. But don't tell your mother I encouraged you."

"Of course not, Uncle. I want you to live."

With a low laugh, he got up from his chair. "I will have to leave, now. Rest well, _koki_." With a quick nuzzle against my cheek, he left the room and my parents and sister entered instead.

"I think I should leave too." Garrus quickly got up awkwardly but I reached out to grasp his hand.

"You can stay. Come on, I want you too."

Glancing at my family awkwardly, Garrus exhaled and gave a stiff nod. "If you insist…"

My father harrumphed at that and glared at Garrus, causing me to giggle.

That's why I wanted him to stay. To see me father glare at him.

 _Honest_.


	9. Interlude

**AN:**

Hello, everyone! First of all, this is a short interlude chapter for me to get back into the story after over a year and as a small treat and sorry for you. Following chapters will definitely be longer again, so no worries there!

Second, I really am sorry for the lack of updates here. The reason will be explained here and it it might end up as a long-ish AN, so you can skip this if you want.

For those who are interested in what was up: I'm a mum since Feb 20th! A single mum in university to be exact...yeah. It definitely was not planned.

As a little background, and this is a little bit personal but I don't mind, before I got pregnant I did sleep around a lot but was always very very cautious when it came to protection. That one time, very cliché, I got drunk as hell and bam, I got knocked up. The guy was...well, let's be blunt, he was a cowardly little shit about it and didn't want to take responsibility. My parents, who are quite religious, were _so_ disappointed. I honestly cried for days and was afraid they'd disown me or something but thankfully they came around. I moved back in with them and am now taking a 45 minute train ride to university while they take care of my daughter when I'm in university. My friends are pampering her too. She definitely is loved and honestly, despite the less than optimal circumstances surrounding the pregnancy, the moment I held her in my arms for the very first time, everything was perfect. I am as happy as I can be!

As for updates, I really am sorry but it between being a mum for only about four months and still going to university I simply cannot promise regular updates. All I can ask for is patience and all I can give is a promise to finish this. I hope you guys will keep sticking around.

Now the comments, if you guys even still remember what you wrote, hah.

 **Spiritstrike:** I hope once we reach the big reveal it will live up to the expactations. And yes, the large sum definitely upset Tulana a lot. But who wouldn't be? Also, you are very welcome!

 **seabo76:** Cats rule!

 **lolistarkiller:** Thank you! Sorry for making you wait for so long!

* * *

"...and then I punched him in the face and our history teacher gave me cleaning duty for a week for the whole school block but I didn't really care. I told Kaelio several times to stop grabbing my hips but he wouldn't listen. And when mum got the call from Principal Abnis she said she was proud of me and that a Turian female never takes crap like that from males. So yeah, that's all that happened last week."

It had been a week since I woke up from my medically induced coma after being almost blown up by the Geth colossus' plasma cannon. I would be finally released in a couple days so I kept on enjoying my time recovering and relaxing. Fighting for the future of every species in the galaxy would come soon enough after all and all that lying around in a hospital bed on the Citadel also came with a chance to finally be able to spend some face-to-face time with my family.

A prime example of that was my younger sister Sitana sitting on a chair next to my bed, her legs stretched out and resting on my legs as she rambled on about her school life while doing homework on her datapad.

"I honestly find it hard to believe mother said 'crap'," I responded while tinkering on my new armor which I had Metso send to me. The hospital staff was less than thrilled about me using their work place as my workshop but while relaxing was all good and well, I didn't want to spend my whole time lying around watching Turian soap operas. I could only suffer through so many episodes of Viana cheating on her mate, who was an important military leader, with a bartender in the colony her mate was stationed on.

"Oh, she didn't but the meaning was pretty much the same."

"I would have loved to see you sock him."

"I think I bruised his mandible."

"Ouch. Good job."

Grinning at me from over her datapad, Sitana placed it on her lap, giving me a look before speaking up again. "Can I tell you something?"

I cocked my head to the side and with a quick twitch of my mandibles I removed Sitanas legs from mine and got up to clear my bed of my armor and tools before sitting back down on the bed. Motioning for Sitana to join me, she gladly took the invitation and snuggled into my side. "So," I began once Sitana was comfortable, "what did you want to tell me?"

"I kind of...have a mate."

"As in _Mate_ mate or just mate?" Sitana just gave me a _duh_ look, her mandibles slack and her eyes blank. I held up my hands defensively. "Just wanted to be sure."

"It's...Kaelio."

Oh. " _Oh_."

"Yeah." Sitana didn't look at me, preferring to instead focus on her bare talons scratching a whole into the fabric of her pants.

"At least that explains why he was so handsy with you I suppose."

"He's actually a nice male but lately he's started to get really pushy about mating and I told him several times that I want to wait a bit more but-"

"There's no but about this, Sitana. Your body may tell you it is ready to mate, biologically, but as long as _you_ don't think so then that's all there is to it. But this Kaelio...I really wished...Turian anatomy really sucks sometimes..."

"What do you mean?" Sitana asked with a very confused look.

"Did you know that human males' genitals are all out in the open? If it was the same for Turians you could have kneed him right between the legs. It would have dropped him like _kizzyk_ venom." I laughed at my sister's shocked look.

" _Spirits,_ really? Wait, how and _why_ do you even know that?"

"For whatever reason, humans have lots of vids on the extranet of their males getting hit in their genitals and rolling around in pain. But to be fair, it does look funny."

"Oh, okay. I didn't expect that. I actually thought you mated with humans."

"And possibly die from all the allergic reactions? Not worth it."

Sitana gave me a quick grin before turning serious again. "So you don't think that Kaelio may have a point? He said I was the most prude female he's met..."

"He's in your class, right?" Sitana gave me a nod in confirmation. "Then he should better shut his trap before I fly to Palaven and do it for him. 'Most prude female' he's met...talking as if he's got tons of experience..." I couldn't help the angry mumbling under my breath and it certainly didn't escape my sister.

"Lana..."

"No! I think you should dump him. He is not fit to even breath the same air as you and I don't say that because I'm just being an overprotective sister or something. If you ever are ready to take that step, feel free to talk to me about it, I don't mind! But this Kaelio...no. Just no. He does not respect you or your body and does not care for your comfort. I'm proud that you haven't given into him and I'll be even prouder once you send me a message to tell me that he's no longer your mate."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, I really do."

"Okay then. I trust you."

I put my arm around her and pulled her closer into my side. I was really going to miss this. Over the past week and especially today I really felt like I bonded with Sitana as siblings. It meant more to me than I could put into words that she trusted my judgement so implicitly.

I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit as I nuzzled Sitana into her cheek. Smelling the scent of family was the most comforting thing a Turian could possibly experience. The security and comfort the knowledge of a family member's close proximity provided was a very animalistic thing in its nature but, well, if some traits of our ancestors were to remain to this day I was glad that this was one of them.

"So...what about you and that Vakarian male?"

"To be honest, there's nothing going on," I answered semi-honestly. We _did_ mate, once or twice, but then again I mated with lots of males. _But then again_ , Garrus did occupy my thoughts on a somewhat regular basis, something that was not the case with the other males I mated with before him. Feelings sucked, honestly. Too complicated and confusing.

"Do you like him?"

"Of course. He's a good and loyal friend."

I chuckled at Sitana's annoyed sigh. "You know what I mean."

"I don't know, honestly. It's not the right time to think about such things. I want to focus on finishing this misson first and then I want to get back to Palaven and get my real markings back. And then I want to see if I can reapply to the military. And _then_ maybe there is time for a steady mate. If it is Garrus or someone else...who knows."

"That's boring."

"Well, I'm sorry that my life is not like _Between Two_ Moons."

Sitana gasped at that comment and jumped up onto her knees, looking at me excitedly. "You watched it! Which episode are you at?! Who do you want Viana to choose?! I mean sure, officially she is with Maxius but Drastis is so handsome! His fringe is to die for! I hope I'll find a male with a fringe like that some day..."

"I'm still not over the fact that Maxius still doesn't know he's being cheated on and I am eighty episodes in. I'm rooting for Drastis just because he's not as dense as Maxius."

"Eighty episodes? In one week?"

"I didn't have my armor to work with at the time..."

Then the door to my room suddenly opened and in walked the commander, wearing her casual human outfit. She still refused wearing anything Cerberus issued. Good on her.

"Commander, I thought you'd be back tomorrow."

"We wrapped things up faster than expected so we came back sooner. It's a couple days shore leave for the team, so no one's complaining," she shrugged before sitting on the chair Tulana vacated earlier. "Boy, Turian chairs are really weird to sit in," the Commander chuckled while wiggling around to try and find a comfortable position.

"Well, they weren't designed with humans in mind...anyways, this is my sister, Sitana. Sitana, this is Commander Shepard but you probably knew that."

"Of course I know her!" Sitana couldn't hide her excitement. "I've seen the movie so many times already. And I've always wanted go thank you for saving the council and our uncle!"

Although Shepard looked decidedly uncomfortable at the borderline hero worship my sister was putting on show right now, she still was the perfect professional yet approachable military woman people looked up to. "No need to thank me, Sitana. It was the right thing to do after all." Shepard then looked at my new armor I had put on a table earlier. "New gear?"

"Yes. A few small adjustments and improvements here and there compared to my old armor but overall I didn't change much."

"There was no need to either. It saved your life. How are you feeling? Ready to get back on missions?"

"Yeah. I'll enjoy the last couple days with my family but after that I'm ready to go again." I couldn't wait to go out into the field again. There was only so much relaxation one could take without losing their minds.

"Anyways, I just wanted to stop by and see how you are doing. I don't want to take up any more of your family time."

I chuckled at that. "I'm pretty certain Sitana didn't mind your 'intruding.' I'll send you a message once I get the official release from the hospital."

Shepard nodded before heading back out. "See you in a couple days. It was nice meeting you, Sitana."

And with a wave, she was out.

* * *

The family time went by faster than I would have liked but it made me appreciate my mother, father, sister and uncle all the more. It made me realize what I had, what I could possibly lose. It made me wonder how different my life would have been had I not disappeared for all those years but whenever such thoughts entered my mind I immediately was overcome by a feeling of utmost certainty that I was exactly were I needed to be. I needed to help Shepard, no matter what.

Even if it meant that I had to be seperated from my family again for a long time.

I made sure to give them all a long and personal goodbye but especially to my mother. She took my leaving the hardest and I couldn't really blame her so I let her have the long hug and nuzzles while I told her that I would at least send her a message to her omni-tool every day just so she knew I was doing okay.

Still, it was hard to leave this wonderfully comforting bubble behind.

I let out a small sigh as I reached the Normandy's hangar and my mandibles tightened at the large symbols on her hall branding her as Cerberus property. No matter how many times I saw it, it just felt wrong somehow.

Maybe because of the Turian design intergrated into her.

I made my way inside and was greeted by EDI who filled me in on everything I missed since I was out.

I couldn't deny that it felt a little bit weird to be back in this ship again, knowing of the fights and everything waiting for us on the horizon, knowing of the evil lurking just out of sight.

And we were the vanguard the people didn't know of. No one knew what we were doing, what we were risking.

All I could do was hope that me risking my life out there was not in vain, that me secretly recording every mission was not in vain. I didn't get the chance to ask my uncle if he had watched them but I trusted him with my life.

I asked EDI for Shepard's location before making my way to Miranda's office, wondering what the Commander could possibly be doing there. Once I reached the mess-hall I took a peek at the Cerberus operative's office's door but it was still sealed shut.

"EDI, tell the Commander I'm in the battery room once she has finished her business with Miranda." With that out of the way, I entered Garrus' and my 'quarters' and was immediately greeted by the former C-Sec's back, busy calibrating whatever it was he decided that needed calibration.

Yes, I definitely was back.

* * *

 **AN** : I hope you guys enjoyed the sisterly interaction between Tulana and Sitana. I enjoyed writing it!


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